


The Secrets Between Us

by Dreamshaper



Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Club Singer Dinah, F/F, Mafiosa Helena, Some angst, but also some fluff, who should not be attracted to Helena but is anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:13:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 30,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24389476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamshaper/pseuds/Dreamshaper
Summary: When the Black Mask club is bought by Gotham's most powerful mafiosa Helena Bertinelli, Dinah figures she'll just keep low and focus on her job as a singer there. Attraction is high from both sides though, and both Dinah and Helena harbour secrets which might bring them closer together...
Relationships: Helena Bertinelli/Dinah Lance
Comments: 282
Kudos: 240





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another AU, cause I'm trash for AUs, lol. I had fun writing this - I hope you'll enjoy reading it :D

Already when Dinah enters the Black Mask club that night, she can tell that something is wrong.

Sionis is sitting at the bar, something he never does when the club isn't officially open yet, and he’s drinking, something else she never has seen him do before opening hours; Zsasz is nowhere to be seen, that is weird, as well, and Sionis is on his phone, something he also avoids to do where his staff and guests can see him, he prefers to have his talks in private.

Dinah knows better than to eavesdrop on him, but she can’t stop herself from picking up a few snippets of his talk as she walks past him to her tiny room backstage; he’s talking about some kind of offer, and she’s not quite sure if it has offended him or if he is frightened of whoever he is speaking to.

“...just don’t want to do this”, she hears him say, and then she’s past him, and walks to the backstage area, but before she can make it to her little room there, one of the barkeeps intercepts her, looking worries as he gestures vaguely into Sionis’ direction.

“You have any idea what is happening?” he wants to know, Dinah shaking her head, “I’ve never seen him so upset before. And Zsasz just left! Told him he’s not gonna stay on a sinking ship and left!”

“Really”, Dinah says, surprised now, she’s never seen Zsasz anywhere but at Sionis’ heel, and the thought of the man just walking out makes it quite clear that something very strange is going on, “I only heard Sionis talk about not wanting to do something, but I didn’t stop to listen.”

“God, we’re all gonna get fired”, the barkeep groans, of all things to say, “this is a mess, I can just tell. Ugh!”

“Everyone!” Sionis calls out in this very moment, clapping his hands to gain the attention of everyone within earshot, just staff at the club for the moment, “please, gather round, I have an announcement to make.”

Dinah and the barkeep exchange a look, then move closer to the bar where Sionis is sitting; he looks at them, at the rest of his staff, steepling his hands beneath his chin in what Dinah secretly calls his “sophisticated man” pose, and once they all have assembled, he lets out a melodramatic sigh.

“Today”, he then begins, his gaze wandering from one of his employees to the next, “is the last day I am your boss. The club has been purchased.”

They exchange looks at this, not sure what to think - Dinah knows that the club is a meeting point for all sorts of scum, even though Sionis has always tried to hide this, she’s seen her share of people doing coke in the restroom and once even had to stop a guy from snorting a line right off the small stage she uses each night, and she wonders who would buy such a place, it does have a good location, but the clientele is very questionable. 

“Are we gonna get fired?” the barkeep nervously asks, and Sionis shrugs, clearly not happy about the question; he still answers it, even though he gives the man a hard look, and Dinah has to fight the urge to take a step away from the guy.”

“I don’t know”, Sionis says, “not immediately, I imagine. The new owner might want to check your skill first, maybe keep you on.”

“Who is it”, another one asks, one of the dancers, but Dinah knows she’s one of those who sometimes warms Sionis’ bed, so she doesn’t get a hard look; Sionis just sighs, picks up his glass and takes a drink, the dramatic, calculated pause forcing Dinah to hold back a roll of her eyes.

Then, he answers, and her breath gets caught in her throat, all annoyance about his melodrama blown out the window.

“Bertinelli”, he says, and Dinah is not the only one who gasps and goes wide eyed; anyone who is even just on the outskirts of Gotham’s shadier sides has heard this name before, often whispered in fear, or said in a trembling voice.

Dinah has always tried to stay away from anything illegal, all she does is sing and get paid for it, but even she has heard the stories, of how some opposing family has tried to slaughter all of the Bertinelli clan a few years ago, of how there’s been one survivor, and of how the woman is ruling her crime empire with an iron fist now. 

She’s the most powerful mafiosa in Gotham, said to be ruthless and cold, and Dinah shudders at the thought of this woman being her boss now.

_ Maybe she won’t even show up _ , she then tells herself, this is a comparatively small business after all, compared to the other things Bertinelli is involved in,  _ it’s not like she needs this place, why did she even buy it? _

“She’s gonna drop by tonight”, Sionis says, dashing all her hopes, “to get a good look at her purchase, I imagine. And at you people. So you want to keep your jobs, I suggest you do them extra well while she’s here. I already got fired, so I wish you all the best.”

He grimaces when he says that, just for a second, but Dinah notices, and she wonders if the others did, too; and she knows that he doesn’t mean it, but she doesn’t really care, in the end, she’s always stayed away from any shady business and she’s not planning to change that, she just wants to do her set each night and doesn’t care if her paycheck says that it’s issued by Roman Sionis or Helena Bertinelli.

_ Just do a good job tonight,  _ she tells herself, while Sionis keeps talking, waxing poetic about how he will miss them all so dearly and how he hopes they can stay in contact even if he’s not their boss anymore,  _ so you won’t get fired. Who knows, maybe there will even be less sleazy people here and less drug use if this club now belongs to the most powerful mafia lady in Gotham.  _

Sionis finally finishes his talk, and dismisses them; and so, Dinah goes backstage to warm up her voice, her set won’t start for a while, but she wants to be ready.

She really needs this job, and if she has to impress a ruthless mafiosa to keep it, then so be it.


	2. Chapter 2

Normally, Dinah spends most of the time before her set backstage, avoiding the often crowded main area of the club until after her performance; tonight though, she’s too curious, she has no idea when Helena Bertinelli will arrive at the club and she doesn’t want to miss it, and so, once she’s warmed up her voice, she goes to sit at the bar, taking note of the fact that every staff member who’s not already working has done the same thing.

This alone should have been a clear sign to the regulars that something is going on, but they either don’t notice or don’t care; they party and drink and laugh as they do every night, unperturbed by the fact that Sionis and Zsasz are nowhere to be seen and that all those on the staff are drinking at the bar and looking nervous.

They only realize that something is going on when the door opens and two men step inside, glancing around, one of them tall and bald, the other small and with a lot of hair and beard, they look so different that it’s almost comical, but Dinah can’t find it in herself to find it funny, she has a pretty good idea who these guys are, with their immaculate black suits and their earpieces.

They stroll through the club side by side, looking around, checking out the guests and the staff and the exits; then, as they walk back to the door, the bald one reaches to his ear and says something, he’s too far away to let Dinah hear it, but she figures it has to be some sort of confirmation that it’s safe to enter.

Because a moment later, Helena Bertinelli steps into the club, Dinah has never seen her before, but she’s heard the stories, so she knows at once that it can’t be anyone else.

She’s tall, Dinah has heard about that, and even with the black suit she’s wearing, Dinah can tell she’s in good shape; and it’s easy to recognize her, with the black leather patch covering her left eye, and the thin scar which splits her eyebrow, runs halfway down her cheek, white and faded, but visible still, showing how deep the initial injury has gone and how exactly she’s lost that eye.

For a minute, she just stands there, and lets her gaze wander over the interior of the club; the people have gone quiet, all staring at her, and even though Dinah knows this might not be the smartest thing to do, she can’t help herself, she stares as well, and not just because this woman is her new boss.

She’s heard the stories, she knows this woman is a criminal, one of the biggest and richest in Gotham, but no one has warned her that Helena Bertinelli is so damn  _ attractive. _

The woman’s gaze meets hers as she lets it wander over the people sitting at the bar, and for a moment, Helena holds her gaze, Dinah bravely not looking away; there’s no discernable reaction from Helena, but still Dinah feels as if she just has passed some sort of test. 

For another minute, Helena just stands there, and looks, then finally gets moving, her two goons flanking her; Dinah figures they’re sort of her bodyguards, but from what she has heard, Helena doesn’t exactly need anyone to guard her, Dinah has no idea how much is fiction and how much is true, but if only half the stuff she’s heard isn’t made up, the woman is very good at looking after herself.

She feels a bit nervous when Helena approaches the bar, and is walking straight towards her; for a moment, she considers moving away, then decides against it - she has no reason to believe it, but this feels like another test, and so, she stands her ground, not moving an inch, not even when Helena ends up standing right next to her.

“W-what can I g-get you”, the barkeep stutters, and this time, there is a reaction, as Helena raises an eyebrow; this only makes the poor guy more nervous, and when she says “beer”, he nods his head so vigorously Dinah starts to worry he’ll give himself whiplash.

He goes to get a bottle, and apparently, Helena dismisses him the second he’s out of her sight; she turns her head just enough so she can look at Dinah, and once again, Dinah bravely holds her gaze, even though it is harder now, with the woman so close to her.

She has to look up at her slightly to do so, and she figures it’s a good thing to be tall like that, it certainly helps when it comes to staring people down. 

“You’re the singer.” It’s not a question, it’s a statement, apparently, Helena has done her homework when she’s bought the place; Dinah strictly tells herself to not act like a fool - like the barkeep - and nods, then decides to be brazen, holding her hand out to the taller woman, pointedly not looking at the two goons when they both tense at the movement.

“Dinah Lance”, she says, still not breaking the eye contact, “nice to meet you.”

For a moment, she wonders if she has been too brave now, if this will get her fired; then, Helena surprises her by grasping her hand, and giving it a firm shake, and she could have sworn she sees the corners of her mouth twitch.

“Helena Bertinelli”, Helena says, as if she has to introduce herself, “nice to meet you, too.”

“Um, your, um your drink, Miss Bertinelli, boss”, the barkeep stutters as he puts the beer down onto the counter, Dinah is surprised he doesn’t actually throw it over; Helena gives him one look, and he scurries away again, looking as if he wants to hide behind the bar where she can’t see him anymore.

Clearly, she’s not impressed by him as she takes the bottle, then turns away from both the bar and from Dinah; and as she does so, Dinah hears what she says to the bald one of her goons, and she’s fairly certain Helena’s wanted her to hear that.

“I like her”, Helena tells the man, taking a sip of her beer before she goes on, “she’s got balls.”

Dinah knows she shouldn’t be happy about a mafiosa liking her, but she is, she tells herself it’s because this means she’s less likely to lose her job, but she can’t fool herself.

She finds the woman very attractive, and she tells herself she better get this under control before it gets noticed and gets her in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a weird thing for eyepatches. Sorry, Helena ^^;


	3. Chapter 3

Half an hour before her set starts, Dinah retreats to her backstage room, to warm up a bit again - she usually doesn’t, but she has a feeling this will be an important performance, and she reminds herself again that she needs this job, she can’t afford to lose it and not receive the regular paychecks anymore.

So, she goes through an extra round of warming up, for a moment, she considers adding something new to her setlist, an Italian song, maybe, but then she decides against it - she does want to impress her new boss, but she does not want to seem like an asskisser, she’s fairly certain Helena Bertinelli deals with more than enough of those each day and it certainly wouldn’t impress her if Dinah tries to do so, as well.

Thus, she doesn’t make any changes to her setlist, she figures it’s better to play this straight and just act like any other evening; still she’s nervous as she changes into her stage clothes and checks her make-up one more time, it has been a while since she’s felt like that before a gig, and she takes a few breaths to calm her racing heart before she finally steps out onto the stage.

Her gaze moves over the crowd, as always, none of the regular guests seems to be paying attention to her, something she’s used to… but then she spots Helena, the woman standing at the bar again and looking at her, once again showing no discernable reaction as their eyes meet.

She doesn’t look away though, and neither does Dinah as the background music starts up and she begins to sing; and even though Helena is said to be a ruthless, cold criminal, Dinah can tell that she listens, truly listens, the first time in a long time that someone pays so much attention to what she does up on this stage.

It makes her feel oddly scrutinized, but she enjoys it, as well - she’s been singing mostly for the paychecks lately, with the lack of attention people have shown, and it’s pleasantly different to have someone actually listen to her.

And apparently, Helena likes what she hears, as she keeps her focus on Dinah as the singer goes through her set; this gives her hope that she won’t lose this job, and by the time she finishes, bows and leaves the stage, she feels confident again, humming to herself as she changes back into her regular clothes.

Just when she finishes, someone knocks the door, and she pauses, surprised, Sionis always has just walked in when he’s wanted something and never bothered to knock. 

She takes a moment to check herself over in the mirror, then clears her throat before she calls out “come in”; and she’s somewhat surprised when it’s hairy, beardy guy of Helena’s two goons, but the man doesn’t look pissed or as if he’s here to do something bad, smiling a surprisingly nice smile as he steps into the little room.

“Miss Lance”, he says, inclining his head slightly, “very nice performance.”

“Thank you”, Dinah replies, with a small smile of her own, once more deciding that being rash has worked out well so far for her, so she might as well keep it up, “but I imagine you’re not just here to compliment me on my performance.”

He raises an eyebrow in response, amused, clearly not having expected that; Dinah holds his gaze, not willing to look away, she might be a bit too brazen with these mafia types, but on the other hand, it can’t hurt to stand her ground.

“No, I’m not”, he tells her, “but not many would have pointed it out like that. The boss is right, you do have balls.”

Dinah just shrugs, and waits for him to tell her why he really is here; and a moment later, he does so, and she takes note of how he keeps a close eye on her as he talks, gauging her reaction.

“Miss Bertinelli wants to speak to you tomorrow, at her office”, he lets her know, and she makes sure to keep her face perfectly neutral, figuring that Helena is gonna have such talks with the whole staff, about who will stay and who will go, “you won’t need to worry about getting there, a car will pick you up at ten.”

Dinah’s not quite sure that  _ this _ will be done for the whole staff, and for a moment, she worries, perhaps, she has been too rash after all; then, the man smiles, and there’s no malice in his smile, and she feels a bit better again.

“No worries”, he says, glancing around the small room before his gaze focuses on her again, “if she’d want to fire you, you wouldn’t be invited to her office. You might be looking forward to more lucrative performances soon, but you haven’t heard that from me.”

“Okay”, Dinah says, still not quite sure what to think of this, but deciding to believe the guy for now, “thanks…?”

He smirks, and nods, then wishes her a nice evening before he turns and leaves again; and as Dinah watches him go, she feels nervous once more, she wants to believe the guy when he tells her she won’t be fired, but it still seems strange for the Bertinelli woman to actually have her driven to her office. 

If Helena Bertinelli had been a man, she would have been extra-wary, but she figures it’s going to be okay, even if the woman is rumoured to be cold and ruthless; so far, during the short interaction they’ve had though, Helena has been none of those things, not exactly friendly, either, but far from what Dinah has been expecting.

_ It’s gonna be fine _ , she tells herself as she leaves the backstage area and goes to get the drink she always has after a performance, a bit miffed when she can’t spot Helena anywhere anymore,  _ and even if it is some sort of trap or the driver gets weird, you can defend yourself. _

That realization makes her feel even better about the whole situation, and by the time she’s served her drink, she feels relaxed and confident, sure that everything will work out just fine in the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dinah: Must not be attracted to her.  
> Also Dinah: Awww, she listens. <3


	4. Chapter 4

In the next morning, Dinah gets up at eight, she wants to be ready for when the car will show up to pick her up; it bothers her a bit that she has no one in her life whom she trusts enough to tell them where she will go, the only person in her apartment building she regularly speaks to is the teenager from the floor above hers, a girl named Cassandra who’s only thirteen, so Dinah really doesn’t want to tell her about the fact that she’ll go meet a mafia boss.

So, she figures she’ll just have to hope Helena Bertinelli won’t have her murdered and her body thrown into a ditch somewhere as she puts on some of her more business looking clothes; it’s not as fancy as the suit Helena has been wearing, but she figures it will do, giving herself a critical look in the mirror before she goes to prepare some breakfast.

Dinah’s not really hungry, but she also doesn’t want to sit at the meeting with her stomach rumbling; and so, she forces herself to eat at least a slice of toast, and drink a coffee, yawning into the mug, it has been quite a while since she’s gotten up so early, with her job keeping her active during the night.

She passes the time drinking coffee, scrolling through the news on her phone and zapping through TV channels until it’s almost ten; wanting to be ready, she then goes downstairs five minutes the driver is supposed to show up, feeling nervous again as she stands there waiting. 

_ You can do this _ , she prep-talks herself,  _ come on, the guy said she’s not gonna fire you, and she has no reason to murder you. It’s gonna be fine. _

Punctually at ten, a sleek black car pulls up to the building, and stops right in front of her; the windows are tinted, so she can’t see inside, she expects the guy to roll the window down and ask her to get in, but instead he gets out of the car, not one of the two goons from the previous night, Dinah realizes, but a new face.

“Dinah Lance?” he asks, and she nods, the nervousness coming back; he responds by opening the back door for her, and after a moment, she gets in, feeling nervous and a bit surreal now, this must be the first time in her life someone is actually holding a car door open for her.

Thankfully, the driver doesn’t seem to be in the mood for small talk, remaining quiet as he drives away from the apartment building; not wanting to stare at the back of his head, Dinah looks out the window instead, watches the city go by, quickly able to tell when they are nearing their destination as the houses are getting progressively nicer.

She’s awed by several of them, but the Bertinelli one has to be the most impressive one there; the house is  _ huge _ , big enough that Dinah wonders if she could get lost in it, and she can’t help herself, but just has to stare as the heavy gate opens when the car pulls up to it and the driver steers the vehicle up the long driveway.

He parks right in front of the house, and gets out to hold the door open for her; and when she steps outside, the front door of the house opens, and the bald guy from the previous evening appears in the doorframe, giving her a brief smile and a nod as he greets her.

“Miss Lance, welcome”, he then says, stepping aside to let her enter, “follow me please, Miss Bertinelli is expecting you.”

Dinah bravely makes herself nod, even though her stomach is nervously clenching now; the bald guy leads the way, and she follows him, glancing around as they walk, impressed by the size and the interior of the house - she’s no expert, but she can tell that nothing in here has been cheap.

He leads her down a short hallway on the ground floor, stopping in front of a closed door; to her amazement, he takes a moment to give her a reassuring smile, then knocks the door, calling out that Dinah Lance is here, Helena’s voice coming up a moment later as she tells her to come in.

She takes a moment to straighten her blouse, then opens the door and steps into the room; it’s big, well-lit thanks to the panoramic window behind Helena’s desk, the desk itself in perfect order, stacks of paper resting next to an expensive looking laptop.

There’s bookshelves lining the walls, Dinah taking a quick glance at them as she steps inside, books on law and history and other scholarly topics, her quick look reveals; behind the desk, Helena’s sitting in a comfortable looking office chair, gesturing at the seat in front of the desk while Dinah closes the door behind herself.

“Miss Lance”, she says, sounding friendly enough, so Dinah figures she won’t pull a gun from one of the drawers and shoot her - and most certainly not in the office, because that carpet looks expensive, “welcome. Thanks for your time. Please, have a seat.”

The words sound oddly rehearsed, as if Helena has practiced them in the mirror or something, but Dinah figures that mafia bosses don’t often have that kind of business talk; so, she ignores the slight oddness and smiles at the other woman, trying to make a good impression as she sits down.

“Would you like coffee, or water?” Helena asks, surprising her again, she certainly hasn’t expected being offered anything; and she’s proud at herself at how steady her voice is when she says that water is fine, Helena reacting by pushing a button on the device built into her desk.

“Frankie, some water for my guest, please”, she says into it, and not even a minute later, the door opens and a young woman enters, carrying a tray with a bottle of water, a glass and a bowl of lemon slices, giving Dinah a smile as she puts it down in front of her.

“Thank you”, Helena says, the smile she receives from the woman somewhat more genuine than the professional polite one Dinah has been given; and while Dinah pours the water into the glass, and adds some lemon just because it’s there, Helena leans back in her seat, looking at her, but not saying anything until she’s finished pouring and has taken a sip.

“Let’s start with the pleasant part”, she then says, and Dinah momentarily feels worried again as this implies there is going to be an unpleasant part, as well, “Sionis paid you two hundred a week, yes?”

“Yes”, Dinah confirms, figuring Helena already knows that, certainly, she’s taken a look at the employee files; Helena lets out a “hmm” sound, picks up a pen and starts toying with it, then seems to realize what she’s doing as she puts it back on the desk, folding her hands in front of her afterwards, as if to make sure they’ll remain still.

“I’m willing to double this”, she says, and Dinah can only gape at her, “under one condition. You’re very good, I’ve enjoyed listening to you. I have… meetings here, sometimes, and I’d like you to sing at some of those, as well. You’d be paid extra, of course.”

“Thank you”, Dinah decides to appreciate the compliment first, “and sure, I’d be glad to. Just singing though, right?”

“Yes”, Helena confirms at once, to her relief, she’s not expected the tall woman to tell her she wants to do anything else, perhaps something shady, but it’s good to hear it out loud, “good, happy to hear we have an agreement. I got your new contract right here.”

She takes it from the top of one of the paper stacks without even having to look to make sure it’s the right one, and hands it to Dinah; it’s just two pages, and Dinah quickly reads through them, glancing up at her in surprise when she spots a bit about healthcare, dental included, another upgrade from the contract she’s signed with Sionis.

“This… is very good”, Dinah says at last, accepting the pen Helena is offering her and signing; Helena already has put her signature on it, she sees, quite the illegible scrawl, and she signs on the other line, and just like that, it’s official, she’s now working fo Helena Bertinelli.

“Alright”, Helena says, taking the contract from her, “you’ll be given a copy of this tonight at the club, of course. Now for the unpleasant part.”

She leans back again, and starts toying with the pen once more as Dinah hands it back to her, but this time, she doesn’t stop herself, her gaze not wavering though as she looks Dinah in the eye, and the singer suddenly finds herself wondering how much more intense that stare would have been, if Helena had had both eyes instead of just one.

“Tell me”, Helena says, and she can see the ruthlessness now, but somehow, she knows it’s not aimed at her, even before Helena continues.

“Have you had much contact with Victor Zsasz?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zsasz, you better hide. x)


	5. Chapter 5

“No, not… not really”, Dinah says, “I mean, he was there a lot, always at Sionis’ heel. Sionis would sometimes send him to my dressing room to get me, when he wanted something. But apart from that, not much, I… actually I tried to stay away from him.”

“Smart”, Helena comments, “alright. You know of anyone else of the staff who was closer to him?”

“He often hung around at the bar, maybe one of those guys”, Dinah tells her, not sure why she’s telling her, but she figures that there’s a reason Helena is interested in Zsasz, and it’s probably not that she finds him attractive and wants to hang out with him, “the guy who was so nervous he almost threw your beer over the other night? He often talked to him.”

“Ah”, Helena lets out, “Rudolph Sunderson, right?”

Dinah is impressed, wondering if Helena has memorized all of the staff’s names already, and nods; she helpfully adds “he goes by Rudy”, and her lips twitch when Helena mumbles “of course he does” under her breath.

“Anyone else?” Helena wants to know, and Dinah shrugs, then remembers the dancer who’s often shared Sionis’ bed; she mentions her as well, and Helena lets out another “hmm”, nodding to herself as she listens.

“Alright”, she then says, “that was very helpful, thank you. That would be all, unless you have any questions?”

“Zsasz left”, Dinah says, and Helena raises an eyebrow, “the day Sionis told us you’d bought the club? I wasn’t there to hear it, but another barkeep told me. He told Sionis he wouldn’t stay on a sinking ship, I was surprised, he always has been at his heel.”

“Did he now”, Helena mutters, frowning, “interesting. Thanks.”

Dinah just shrugs, she’s still not sure why she’s revealed all this, but she figures it can’t hurt to make a good impression, she has signed a good contract, but Helena is still her boss, and can fire her if she chooses to, probably from one day to the next.

“That’s it, I suppose”, she says, coming to her feet again, “no more questions from me, so… I guess I’ll see you around?”

Helena nods and gets up as well, shaking her hand as if they’ve just sealed some sort of high profile deal; she lets her know that the driver will be waiting to take her back home, and Dinah nods, then thanks her, all too aware that this isn’t something to take for granted.

“Have a good day”, Helena says as she sits back down; Dinah wishes her the same, then walks towards the door, but when she reaches for the handle, Helena speaks up behind her, prompting her to pause. 

“Miss Lance”, Helena starts, and Dinah turns to look at her, meeting her gaze, “I’m fairly sure you were the only one to look me in the eye yesterday. Impressive. And… your singing truly was very good.”

“Thank you”, Dinah says, finding herself smiling, “and, well, what can I say. Wanted to impress my new boss.”

“You did”, Helena solemnly says, and suddenly Dinah feels awkward, something she isn’t quite used to; she manages another smile, and then, Helena turns back to her laptop, a clear dismissal, and Dinah clears her throat before she leaves, wondering why exactly Helena has asked after Zsasz and if there is more to all of this than she can even begin to imagine.

* * *

Dinah is somewhat surprised when she arrives at the club that evening and finds Rudy still working there, after how nervous he had been the previous night, she’s been halfway sure that Helena would fire him, but apparently she hasn’t, at least not yet.

“Dinah, Dinah”, he trills when she enters, sounding so overeager it makes her frown, and makes her wonder if he is high on something, wouldn’t be the first time, “you talked to the new boss too yes? How was she to you?”

“Normal, I guess?” Dinah tells him, not sure what he’s expecting, and suddenly sure that she won’t tell him about Helena asking about Zsasz, she has no idea why, but her gut tells her this would be a bad idea, “it didn’t take that long, I just went in, signed the new contract, she told me she liked my voice. That was it.”

“Huh”, Rudy lets out, apparently not having expected that, but to her relief seemingly not doubting her words, either, “weird, cause she asked me about Victor. She didn’t ask you?”

“No”, Dina easily lies, smiling at him, “but then, I’ve never talked much to him, you know that. I wouldn’t have been able to tell her anything anyway.”

“True”, Rudy agrees, apparently not questioning that there’s no way Helena could have known if Dinah has talked much to Zsasz or not, “well, either way, I got a way better contract now, I get paid more and I got health care! Maybe this won’t be so bad.”

“Yeah”, Dinah says, then vaguely gestures at the backstage area, “but I gotta get ready now. I’ll see you later.”

“Oh, yeah, sure”, Rudy babbles, once more giving her the impression he’s high on something; she holds back her disdain, only rolling her eyes once her back is turned towards him, she’s never been into drugs herself and she can’t understand why anyone would risk their job just to get high.

Sionis hasn’t cared if his staff has been high or not, but Dinah feels as if this might be different with Helena; after all, she’s seen that the woman is in good shape, and she figures that people who take drugs usually aren’t, not if they take them regularly.

_ Well, she is head of a crime empire _ , she then reminds herself, she’s not aware what the Bertinelli name exactly is involved in, but she figures it’s not wholesome and pure,  _ that she doesn’t take drugs doesn’t mean she’s not dealing with them. _

The thought seems somehow wrong though, even though she hasn’t spoken to a total of an hour to Helena; still she’s fairly certain that drugs are not one of the ways Helena makes money, and all at once, she finds herself wondering how the clientele of the club might change, now that Helena Bertinelli owns it.

She can’t say why, but she’s fairly certain it will be for the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Impressed Helena is impressed. XD


	6. Chapter 6

When Dinah steps onto the stage that night, she finds herself wondering if Helena will be there; part of her figures that the woman has other, more important things to do than hang out at the club, even if she’s just purchased it, but another, bigger part hopes that she will be there, even though Dinah scolds herself for feeling this way.

_ She might be attractive _ , she tells herself as she gets ready, cursing her tendency to be into the tall, dark and mysterious type,  _ but she’s a criminal. You don’t want to get involved with that sort of thing. Just keep singing, collect your paychecks, and ignore how good she looks. _

She knows this will be difficult, an assumption which only gets confirmed when she steps out onto the stage and immediately spots Helena, the woman standing at the bar and drinking beer again; she’s wearing a different suit that day, and Dinah has to admit that she makes it look good, finding it hard to look away again, despite her best intentions to not let her attraction to the woman show.

At least though, it seems not to be one-sided, as Helena is watching her closely again, like the first time she’s seen her sing; the bald guy is standing next to her, and Dinah can see him say something to her, a bit amazed when Helena doesn’t take her eye off her even as she answers him.

Their eyes meet, and Dinah finds herself smiling as she sings, even though the song isn’t exactly happy; and for the first time, she gets a visible reaction from the mafiosa, her lips curling up for a brief smile, as well, just for a second, but long enough to let Dinah notice.

_ Oh no _ , she realizes, scolding herself again as she keeps singing, knowing her songs well enough at this point that she can allow her mind to wander a bit,  _ that is  _ not _ good, stop that, Dinah! Ignore how good she looks, remember? _

Helena takes a sip of her beer, and then she licks her lips, and Dinah suddenly has to focus very hard on her lyrics, annoyed at herself for how much she’s letting this affect her.

Still she can’t look away, and it seems to be the same for Helena; they keep staring at each other as Dinah sings, and only when her set is done and she bows to the polite applause, the eye contact is broken.

It’s been a while since anyone has applauded her, she realizes, but then, Helena has started it, and at this point, Dinah figures that most people know she’s the new owner of the club, and don’t want to piss her off.

_ And even if they don’t know she owns the place, it might not hurt to applaud when the tall scary woman with the eyepatch does _ , she ponders as she thanks the audience, then leaves the stage; it feels good to be applauded, even if it’s out of fear of the new boss, and once again, Dinah is fairly certain that things at the club will get better, now that Helena Bertinelli is the one to own it.

* * *

When Dinah leaves the backstage area and makes her way to the bar for the drink she usually has after a set, Helena is still standing there; she seems not to notice her, watching Rudy closely now, her gaze following his every move, a slight frown furrowing her brow.

Dinah doesn’t want to appear as if she’s trying to kiss ass, so she doesn’t move right to her side, but takes a seat a few feet away; she notices the bald guy briefly glance at her, but apparently, he finds Rudy more interesting too, looking back at him, almost as intensely as Helena is watching him.

He seems unaware of the mafiosa’s gaze on him, joking with one of the regulars and laughing a bit too loud; his moves are jerky, and Dinah is fairly sure he’s high now, making a face as she watches him nearly spill the cocktail he’s mixing.

Helena says something to her bald goon, and he nods, Dinah wishing she could have heard, but she’s too far away; apparently, it has been some sort of resolution though, as Helena stops watching the barkeep so closely, and seems to notice Dinah sitting at the bar now, glancing around before she moves closer to her.

“Hello”, she says, Dinah taking note of how several people glance at them, but not quite caring anymore, after all, Helena has approached her and not the other way round, “you were very good again. Congrats.”

“Thank you”, Dinah says, smiling at the compliment; then, she adds “boss” as an afterthought, only for Helena to grimace, to her slight surprise and amusement.

“I’m not fond of being called  _ boss _ ”, Helena tells her, toying with her bottle, with the same nervous energy she’s displayed when playing with the pen, Dinah notes, “I can’t stop Sal and Luca from doing so, but I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t start in the first place.”

“Oh, okay”, Dinah says at once, shrugging, “Miss Bertinelli, then. Glad you enjoyed the show.”

“Just call me Helena”, the taller woman says, surprising Dinah slightly, she’s fairly certain that this is not offered to everyone, and certainly not to people the mafiosa practically has just met, “if you’re going to perform at my private dinner parties, we might as well be on a first name basis.”

“Sure”, Dinah says after a moment, still surprised at this, but finding herself smiling, “gladly.”

Helena gives her a brief, somewhat tight smile, and just then, the bald man moves behind the bar and talks to Rudy, looking at him sternly; Rudy looks as if he wants to protest, and the man grabs his arm, Dinah can see his muscle bulge beneath his jacket and has a vague idea about how hard that grip has to be.

“I’m not fond of people doing drugs in my establishments”, Helena says, having followed her line of sight, her gaze moving back to her though as the bald guy pulls Rudy outside, “and it’s a bad sign for the guests when the staff does it, too. You’re not into that shit, I hope.”

“No”, Dinah says at once, shaking her head for emphasis, “never have been. Actually, I was hoping the drug use was gonna get less now with you owning this place, Sionis never really cared. One time, I had to stop a guy from doing a line right off the stage.”

Helena raises an eyebrow at this, then shakes her head; the bald guy chooses this moment to drag the protesting Rudy outside, the tall woman watching him go as he’s pulled past her, looking somewhat satisfied now, it might be a small start with just one drug user less in the club, but it is a start.

“He’s not gonna get killed, is he”, Dinah asks before she can stop herself; thankfully, Helena appears amused and not offended when she looks at her again, the corners of her mouth twitching as she replies. 

“No”, she says, and Dinah feels relieved, “just fired. Unless he overdoses, but that will be his own doing.”

Dinah nods, and just for a moment, Helena smirks, just long enough to let her notice; and as she smiles back, Dinah once again curses her tendencies to be into tall, dark and mysterious.

She’s quite certain her tries to ignore how attractive she finds Helena aren’t working out at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be fair Dinah, you have not tried very hard about the whole attraction thing. But who can blame her?


	7. Chapter 7

As has become her routine, Dinah stays for one drink after her performance, taking her time to finish it, time she needs to regain her calm after the excitement of being on stage; now that people are actually listening to her when she sings, she feels even more excited, even though that excitement is dulled when Helena tells her she has to get going and leaves.

She tells herself not to be stupid, the woman is her boss, and a criminal at that, no matter how attractive she might be; she’s fairly certain though that Helena finds her attractive as well, and that is not helping, the last thing she needs in her life, she tells herself, is to start something with Gotham’s biggest mafiosa.

Even though she sits alone at the bar now, Dinah takes her time finishing her drink, looking around the club as she does so; there’s a few new faces already, people who smile at Helena when she walks past them and greet her in a way that shows they have known her for a while, and Dinah finds herself wondering what they do, if they work for her or with her or if they just know her because of who she is.

Helena stops here and there, talking to some of the people, one time, Dinah even sees her laugh, and it makes her stomach tingle; this is a clear sign for her that she should get going, get some distance between the woman and herself, and so she finishes her drink, then grabs her jacket, waving goodbye to the one bartender left now that Rudy has been fired.

From the corner of her eye, she takes note of Helena watching her go, but forces herself to not look at her; stepping outside, Dinah takes in a deep breath, hoping the cool night air will help her clear her head, it dismays her how much being around Helena is affecting her, and as she starts walking away from the club’s entrance to the alley where she’s parked her car, she berates herself, telling herself again she needs to get a grip on this.

She’s still thinking about how not to be attracted to Helena when she notices movement from the corner of her eye, and turns to look, Rudy pushing her up against the brick wall moments later, and she’s so surprised she can’t even react for a moment.

“You!” he snarls, and she can tell he’s high for sure now, his pupils are huge and his hands are trembling even as he’s grabbing her arms, “you ratted me out, didn’t you! I lost my job because of you!”

“Take your hands off me before I break your arms”, Dinah snarls in response, not willing to take any of his shit; he’s bigger than her, and bulkier, but she knows she can take him down, something he probably isn’t aware of though as his hands grip her harder, and he grits his teeth, glaring at her as if he hopes he can kill her with the power of his angry gaze alone.

“You ratted me out! I saw you talk to her just before I got fired!” he shouts again, spittle flying from his lips; from the corner of her eye, Dinah sees movement, but this is Gotham, even if someone is seeing what is happening, she can’t expect help from them, and so, she helps herself, stomping down on his foot as hard as she can.

He yelps and lets go of her, takes a step back, putting some distance between her and himself; this is all she needs, and she kicks him, a fast and high kick right into his stomach, his breath leaving him in a soundless huff as he doubles over and stumbles back a few more steps.

He’s not going down though, and Dinah doesn’t want to give him the chance to recover and retaliate; and so, she moves after him, and follows with a swift kick to his head, sending him to the ground, and there he stays, groaning quietly as he struggles to stay conscious.

Again she sees movement from the corner of her eye, and this time, she dares to look, as Rudy is down for now; and to her surprise, she sees Helena and her bald goon stand a few feet away, the mafiosa looking amused as she takes in the scene while bald guy is shaking his head in disapproval at the downed barkeep.

“Dude”, he then says, walking over to the groaning man and grabbing the back of his shirt, yanking him to his feet, “ambushing women in alleys? Not cool.”

“Impressive”, Helena comments as Rudy groans again, if not for bald guy, he would have gone down again, “taking him down like that.”

Dinah just shrugs, not quite sure what the right response to this is; Helena slowly walks over to where bald guy is still holding Rudy up, and he actually whimpers when her gaze lands on him.

Dinah can see the coldness and the ruthlessness again in that look, and she’s glad it’s not directed at her, she’s not sure she would have been able to stand up to it if it had been.

“Miss Lance works for me”, Helena tells him, bald guy shaking him a bit when he tries to look away, “and I don’t like it if people ambush my employees. Especially not if lowlifes who are stupid enough to do drugs on the job do the ambushing.”

Dinah finds herself fascinated by this, by the calm coldness Helena is radiating now, and she can’t blame Rudy for whimpering again when she leans forward, getting into his face.

“You will walk away from here tonight”, Helena says, and he looks a bit relieved, “but if I ever catch you around here again, you won’t. Stay away from this club. And stay away from the people who work for me.”

“I will, I will”, Rudy hurriedly says, “I promise.”

“Fine”, Helena says, taking a step back again, “Sal. Get him out of my sight.”

_ So this is Sal _ , Dinah thinks to herself as bald guy drags the still trembling Rudy away,  _ I wonder if small and hairy is Luca then? She has mentioned they both call her boss and she doesn’t like it. _

“You’re okay?” Helena asks as she turns to her, distracting her from those thoughts; Dinah nods at once, she’s dealt with worse things than a high barkeep yelling at her, and has never felt like she’s been in any actual danger, having known perfectly well she’d be able to take him down before she’d had to do so.

“Fine, thanks”, she confirms out loud, “I’m not scared by a guy like that. I can handle myself.”

“I could see that”, Helena tells her, making her smile a bit, “I can’t be here every night though to make sure he stays away so… He shows up again, you tell me. Before or after you kick his ass again, I don’t care about that.”

“After, probably”, Dinah dryly says, oddly proud when Helena lets out a snort, “but yeah, I will let you know.”

“Good”, Helena says, reaching into the inner pocket of her jacket and bringing out a business card, “here’s my cell. And Sal’s, and Luca’s, in case you can’t reach me, you can talk to them, as well.”

Dinah nods as she takes the card and carefully tucks it into her pocket; and just then, Sal comes back, dusting off his hands as if he’s touched something dirty, nodding when Helena asks if they’re ready to go.

“Take care”, Helena tells Dinah, and she nods again; and then, she watches her go, Sal by her side, feeling as if some sort of connection has been made when Helena has seen her take care of the barkeep, and even though she reminds herself to not dwell on how attractive she finds the woman, she can’t help herself, but smiles to herself as she heads to her car and goes home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Impressed Helena is impressed again. And what a good excuse to hand over her phone number XD


	8. Chapter 8

For the next few days, Helena doesn’t show up at the club at night, to Dinah’s slight dismay; she keeps reminding herself that running a crime empire is an intense job, and that she simply doesn’t have time to hang out the club every night even if she owns it, and she also reminds herself of the fact that she shouldn’t be upset about this, because there is no way Helena Bertinelli can be anything but her boss.

Even without Helena there though, she can tell that the clientele of the club is changing; many of the people who’ve been here every night when it still has been Sionis’ establishment aren’t showing up anymore, and instead, well-dressed men and women start frequenting the club, people who don’t randomly throw up on the floor and who actually listen when she sings and applaud, even when Helena isn’t there.

A few of them even approach her at the bar after her set, and compliment her on her singing and buy her drinks; and while Dinah is aware that she simply moved from the payroll of one criminal to that of another, it feels good, and it’s not like she herself is doing anything illegal, she tells herself, she just sings and gets paid.

And as far as she can tell, no one else is doing anything illegal at the club, either; there’s no more obvious drug use, and if shady business deals are made at the tables, Dinah notices nothing of it, whenever she does happen to hear what people are talking about, they all seem to simply be having a good time instead of discussing any illegal dealings.

Still Dinah doesn’t fool herself, she knows these people have ties to the mafia, they wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t; they’re still more charming and friendly than the small time crooks which have been coming here during Sionis’ time are, and so, she can’t find it within herself to care much.

Thursday evening is her evening off, and she ends up spending it with Cassandra, after having found the kid in the stairwell while her foster parents had been drunkenly yelling at each other again; she orders pizza for them and they watch a movie, and she lets Cass crash on her couch, the thought of sending her back to the screaming couple making her stomach clench. 

She’s not sure it has been a good anymore though when there’s a knock at her apartment door in the next morning and, upon opening, Dinah finds herself face to face with a woman she vaguely knows from the police station, having seen her a few times after Cassandra has been caught picking pockets.

“Cass didn’t do anything”, she says at once, the cop - Renee, Dinah remembers her name at last, Renee Montoya - raising an eyebrow, “she’s been staying with me all night. And if her shitty foster parents complain about her not being home and you’re here because of that, you can turn right back around and leave.”

Behind her, Cassandra sits up on the couch and blinks sleepily; Renee doesn’t look happy about the kid being here, but she shakes her head, gaze focusing on Dinah again as she replies.

“I’m not here for the kid”, she says, and Cassandra lets out a small sigh of relief, “I’m here about your new boss.”

“My new boss”, Dinah repeats, frowning, not liking this already; Renee nods, and asks if she can come in, making a face when Dinah crosses her arms over her chest and raises an eyebrow in response.

“Okay”, Renee says after another moment, “I can also tell you this out here. You are aware whom you are working for now, yes?”

“Helena Bertinelli”, Dinah replies dryly, “I’ve met her. And she’s been nothing but pleasant to me, before you ask.”

“I hear she can be quite charming”, Renee says, just as dry, “as long as you don’t cross her. People who’ve done so have been found dead.”

“Well, she hasn’t murdered anyone on the dancefloor of the club”, Dinah tells her, not quite sure where this is going, but having a vague idea, and she doesn’t like it one bit, “and no, before you ask, I won’t spy on her for you or something.”

“Come on”, Renee is clearly not willing to give up so fast, Cassandra listening with wide eyes, “you can’t tell me you’re fine working for this woman! She’s a criminal! After all the work your mother did--”

“The work my mother did is what killed her”, Dinah angrily interrupts her, “and yes, I am fine working for her, I feel better working for her than when it was Sionis. I go in there, I sing, I get my paycheck, that’s it. And that’s all I want.”

“...fine”, Renee says, to Dinah’s relief apparently not planning to pester her further, “give me a call if you change your mind. Here’s my card.”

“I don’t want your card”, Dinah snaps, keeping her arms crossed as Renee holds the card out to her, “find someone else to do your dirty work for you. I hear Sionis himself is out of a job, after how Helena has fired him.”

“Helena, huh”, Renee immediately latches on to how Dinah has addressed her boss, “let me give you some advice even if you don’t want to help me out. Don’t get close to her. She’s not a good person.”

“She’s been nice enough to me”, Dinah snaps, and Renee looks as if she’s holding back a sigh, “and this talk is over.”

With that, she slams the door shut, Cassandra still staring wide-eyed; and a second later, Renee pushes her card through the slid beneath the door, and for a moment, Dinah feels like opening the door again just so she can yell at her.

One of her special yells, perhaps, she’s angry enough to do so… but she fights the impulse down, she hasn’t used this power in years and she’s not planning to start doing so now, especially not with Cassandra nearby.

“Wow”, Cassandra lets out as Dinah picks the card up and tosses it onto the little table next to the door, “talking to a cop like that? You got balls.”

Dinah just sighs, and shrugs; then, she makes herself smile at the girl, and tells her she’ll drive her to school, if only to get some fresh air and to make sure Cassandra will actually go there, something she knows doesn’t happen as regularly as it should.

Cassandra shrugs, then nods, and as Dinah walks downstairs with her and to her car, Renee’s words echo through her mind, no matter how hard she tries to forget all about them.

_ Don’t get close to her. She’s not a good person. She’s not a good person. Not a good… _

She tries to block it out, but can’t quite succeed, and she curses Renee for putting these thoughts in her mind, telling herself that she has a good thing going at the club now and that she doesn’t want an ambitious cop to ruin this for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter Renee AND Cassandra. Now Dinah, whatcha gonna do x)


	9. Chapter 9

After having dropped Cassandra off at school, Dinah is back at her apartment, and toying with the card Helena has given her, unsure what to do next, if she should do anything or if she should pretend nothing’s happened.

_ If I tell her, it might put Renee in danger, and while she’s annoying, I don’t want that, _ Dinah ponders, looking at the card as if it can solve the dilemma for her,  _ but if I don’t tell her, and she somehow finds out, she’ll think I’m working against her with the cop. _

_ People who’ve crossed her have been found dead _ , Renee’s voice whispers in the back of her mind, and Dinah groans in frustration; she tosses the card back onto the desk and sinks back into the couch, staring up at the ceiling, not having an idea what to do.

Part of her wants to warn Helena, she figures Renee will try to find someone else to do her spying for her; she also doesn’t want to endanger the cop though, and she wonders if she can tell Helena that a cop has approached her without revealing who said cop has been, not quite sure she’d be able to keep her mouth shut if that cold and ruthless stare will be aimed at her.

Her phone lights up on the table, distracting her from her thoughts; a quick look shows her it’s a text from a number she doesn’t have saved to the phone, but a glance at the card Helena has given her tells her it’s Sal’s number, and for a moment, she feels nervous as she opens the message, suddenly quite sure that they somehow have found out about Renee already.

_ Dinner party tonight, _ the text says instead, to her slight relief,  _ boss asks if you’d be interested in a performance there? About an hour, $250, food and drink. Sal. _

_ Sure _ , she texts back before she can think about it for too long, she can use the extra paycheck and perhaps, she tells herself, she can get Helena alone at some point there, and tell her about the cop who’s shown up at her door; she’s determined to not reveal Renee’s name, but she figures she’ll only get herself in trouble if she doesn’t say anything and Helena finds out anyway, and she’s fairly certain the woman will find out at some point.

_ You’re not one of the most successful mob bosses in Gotham if you don’t have contacts of your own _ , she realizes, making a face as she realizes this has to be true,  _ she probably has a bunch of cops on her payroll, and if one of them finds out, they’ll tell her. Just don’t tell her who talked to you. _

She sighs to herself, knowing this to be true, but she still doesn’t like the idea of telling Helena about Renee; she’s determined to not say who has spoken to her, she doesn’t want to cause trouble for Renee, but she wants to cause trouble for herself even less, and so she tells herself it’s the right thing to do, no matter how bad it makes her feel.

* * *

Just like when Dinah’s gone to the Bertinelli mansion to sign her new contract, a car picks her up to take her there; she feels nervous as she sits in the back of it, not because of the performance awaiting her, but because of the talk she has to have with Helena, and she has to force herself to sit still and not fidget on the seat, she doesn’t want the driver to notice.

The drive seems to take longer than the first time, but she blames her nervousness for that; finally though, they pull up to the mansion, and Sal is already waiting at the door, smiling at her as she gets out of the car.

“Miss Lance, welcome”, he says, inclining his head a bit, “glad you could make it. Please follow me.”

He leads the way and she trails along behind him; and as they walk, he tells her there will be dinner first, and after that, she’s supposed to perform, Dinah nodding along, her mind racing as she tries to figure out if she should tell him she has to speak to Helena in private or if she should try to catch the woman alone somewhere on her own.

_ Don’t tell him for now _ , she then decides as he leads the way to what has to be the biggest room of the house, almost a hall, people already sitting at the various desks and talking,  _ try to get her alone, keep this between her and yourself. _

Sal shows her to her seat, at a table with what she assumes are other members of Helena’s staff; there’s a bit of awkward smalltalk, as she doesn’t know any of these people, then Helena steps into the room, greets everyone and thanks them for coming, and a short while after that, the food is being served, something Dinah is grateful for as it keeps the other people at her table busy and there’s no more need to talk about the weather and similar, trite things.

She keeps sneaking glances at Helena as she eats, wondering if the woman notices; she’s sitting quite a bit away, flanked by Sal and who Dinah assumes is Luca, and while the two men are talking amiably, Helena herself doesn’t seem to contribute much to the conversation, focused on her plate as she eats methodically.

The food is quite delicious, but Dinah finds it hard to enjoy it, with the things on her mind; still she eats it all up, because it is a free meal and she doesn’t want to appear ungrateful, especially not if she has to tell Helena about a cop having approached her later on.

Once everyone has finished eating, the tables are quickly removed, and people start to mingle and to talk; and it’s time for Dinah’s performance, she figures not many will listen to her, but that she’ll be background noise to them, not that it bothers her much though, it still pays well and it’s a chance to impress Helena, get on her good side before she has to tell her about the cop.

The guests are talking, and walking around as she sings, but Dinah takes note of how Helena is still in her seat, and watching her; she does answer when someone talks to her first, but she doesn’t take her eye off of Dinah even then, and even though the singer tries to remind herself again that this is dangerous, she can’t help the warm tingly feeling which spreads through her belly whenever her gaze meets Helena’s.

_ She’s not a good person _ , Renee whispers in the back of her mind again, but she doesn’t look away, doesn’t break the eye contact.

Helena might not be a good person, Dinah thinks to herself as she sings, but here she is working for her, and being attracted to her, so she figures she’s not exactly a saint, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dinah, just admit you want some alone time with Helena. XD


	10. Chapter 10

When Dinah finishes her set, Sal approaches her and pays her - in cash, she notes, not that she minds - and tells her that she’s welcome to stay and mingle with the guests; what she truly wants to do is talk to Helena, but she figures it might be seen as weird to just approach her, and so, she just nods, deciding she’ll wait and see if she can catch the mafiosa alone somewhere.

She goes to get herself a drink from the bar which has been put up in the room, then glances around at the other guests; she knows some of the faces from the club, but not many, and she feels a bit out of place as she stands there, wondering how many of these people are involved in something shady or are doing criminal business with Helena.

“Excuse me, coming through”, a vaguely familiar voice says, Luca moving past her as he seems in a bit of a hurry; curious, Dinah watches him briskly walk up to Helena, then stop next to her and mumble something into her ear, the woman looking pleased when he straightens up again and nodding.

She comes to her feet and leaves the room, alone, Dinah notes, this might be her chance - and so, she quickly puts her glass down and follows her, losing a bit of valuable time when she has to move past several of the guests standing in clumps, stepping out of the large room just in time to see Helena vanish through a door down the hallway.

Perhaps, she ponders as she follows her, this is a bad idea, but it might be the only chance she’ll get to speak to the woman alone, and so, she follows her; the door seems to lead to some sort of basement, stairs leading down, and the “bad idea” alarms are getting louder, but Dinah ignores them as she walks down the stairs.

She can hear voices now, Helena and someone else, someone who sounds oddly familiar; and suddenly, she’s sure she won’t want to be noticed, and slows down, moving as quietly as she can, approaching the voices, coming from a room at the far end of the hallway.

She hopes that no one will spot her as she approaches the room; the door is open, thankfully, so she doesn’t have to risk discovery by moving it, and when she manages to get a glimpse of the room, she freezes, and it takes all her willpower to not let out a noise of surprise.

Helena is standing with her back to her, thankfully, so she hasn’t seen her; and in front of her, Sionis is tied to a chair, blindfolded and sweating, she can see him tremble from where she’s standing.

_ Shit, fuck, leave _ , she berates herself, unable to stop staring,  _ before they notice you! _

“You don’t really expect me to believe that, do you”, Helena says, and Dinah finds herself rooted to the spot, unable to leave even though she knows she should, “do you think I’m stupid?”

“No”, Sionis whimpers, sounding more frightened and meek than Dinah has ever heard him, a far cry from the suave businessman he’s presented himself as at the club all the time, “I don’t know where he is, I swear. He left! The day you bought the club! And I haven’t seen him since then!”

“He’s been your lapdog for years”, Helena says, her voice cold, and Dinah can imagine the way she’s glaring at Sionis, even though she can’t see her face and Sionis can’t see the glare, either, “and you want me to believe he just leaves? From one day to the other?”

“He knew”, Sionis whimpers, shifting on the chair, and Helena tenses, but doesn’t make a move towards him, “he knew you’d bought the club. I don’t know how, but he did, I didn’t tell him, but he knew, and he said he had to get away before you’d get your hands on him. I don’t know where he is, I swear!”

_ Zsasz,  _ Dinah realizes, still too fascinated to move even though she knows she should,  _ they’re talking about Zsasz. Shit, I really gotta get moving, before they notice me. _

A heavy hand lands on her shoulder, and this time, she can’t keep the surprised yelp inside; Helena turns around fast at hearing her, raising an eyebrow, but at least, Dinah figures as Sal grabs her with his other hand, as well, she doesn’t look pissed off, not yet.

“What are you doing here”, Helena asks, sounding just mildly curious, but Dinah figures this can change any moment, if she says the wrong thing now; she swallows, then bravely shrugs as far as Sal’s grip on her lets her, already wondering if she can take them both down and run, should it turn out to be necessary.

“I was looking for you”, she says, and Sionis perks up at hearing her voice, “I need to talk to you. In private.”

“Dinah”, Sionis says before Helena can respond to this, “it’s you, isn’t it, my little songbird, you have to help me. Tell her! Tell her that Zsasz left!”

“Shut up”, Helena snaps at him, and he actually whimpers, shrinking on the chair; Dinah gives him a look of disdain, she’s always hated it when he’s called her that, but hasn’t had the chance to tell him, knowing he might end up firing her if she’d done something he disliked.

“I already told her that”, she then says, with another cold look at the man, Helena watching her closely now, “and you call me that one more time, I’ll kick your teeth in, I doubt she would mind.”

She hears Sal snort behind her, and his grip on her loosens a bit; then Helena nods at him, and he lets go of her fully, taking a step back, and Dinah figures this is good, that it means she won’t end up tied to a chair in a room like this one.

“We can talk in a minute”, Helena tells her, another good sign, she figures, “Sal? Take her to my office. I’ll be right there.”

“Yes boss”, he replies, then gently nudges her to get her moving; and as she turns away, she still sees Helena pick up a crossbow from the small desk in the room, but she can’t find it within herself to feel sorry for Sionis, she knows about some of the things he has done and she figures he deserves worse than that.

She hears the crossbow being fired as Sal walks with her, and hears Sionis gurgle as he chokes on his blood and possibly on the bolt as well, but again she can’t find it within herself to care, not even bothering to look back as she leaves the basement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops. Dinah, that is why you don't sneak around in other people's homes. XD


	11. Chapter 11

Dinah feels nervous and uncomfortable as she waits for Helena in her office, but she reminds herself that she certainly won’t just be murdered in here, because for sure, Helena won’t want to get blood onto the expensive carpet; she wonders how long Helena will make her wait, if she’ll just let her stew for a while, but the door does open fairly quickly after Sal has brought her here, and Helena steps inside.

“So”, she says, not sitting down behind her desk, but remaining standing, so that she’s towering over the sitting Dinah even more than when they both are standing upright, “you weren’t supposed to see that, you know.”

“I guess not”, Dinah has to agree, choosing her words carefully as she is acutely aware that this might decide her fate, and she really doesn’t want to end up in a basement room like Sionis, “but no worries, I couldn’t care less. Good riddance, the world is gonna be a better place without Sionis in it.”

“Some would argue the world would be an even better place without me in it”, Helena tells her, “Sionis would have been among those, I’m sure.”

_ She’s not a good person,  _ Renee’s voice whispers again in Dinah’s mind,  _ those who cross her are often found dead. _

“Well”, she says out loud, “personally, I can’t agree with that, unlike Sionis, you have been nothing but pleasant to me. And, no offense, but everyone who’s even remotely near the shadier sides of Gotham knows your name, and what you do, so it’s not exactly a surprise.”

“Hm”, Helena lets out, but apparently, it has been the right thing to say, because she walks to one of the cupboards next, exposing a collection of bottles when she opens it, and asks Dinah if she wants a drink, the singer figuring that this is a good sign.

“Sure”, she says, shrugging when the mafiosa asks her which one, “I’ll have what you’re having.”

Helena pours them both a glass of whisky in response, handing one to her before she moves to sit on the edge of her desk, not putting the desk between them, Dinah notes, something else she takes as a good sign.

“So”, Helena says after having taken a sip of her glass, prompting Dinah to the same - not that she’s thought the stuff is poisoned, but it’s still calming to see Helena drink it, “you were sneaking around because you wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes”, Dinah confirms, taking another sip before she goes on, “this morning I… was approached by a cop. A cop who wanted me to spy on your for… them.”

She keeps herself from revealing the cop’s gender in the last second, and scolds herself for almost slipping up already; and clearly, Helena has noticed, briefly smirking before she hides the smirk behind her glass.

“I appreciate it that you’re telling me this”, she then says, toying with the glass now, “and I assume you told the cop no, or you wouldn’t be here to talk about it.”

“I did”, Dinah confirms, “but the cop might be trying to find someone else to do it. So, I don’t know, you might want to be on the lookout or something.”

“Let me guess”, Helena replies, and even though working for Sionis has taught Dinah to keep her emotions from showing through her face, she can’t hide her surprise at what the mafiosa says next, “it’s Renee Montoya.”

Dinah just lets out a vague noise, and to her surprise, Helena snickers; she empties her glass, still smirking when she puts it on the desk, then crosses her arms over her chest, a twinkle in her eye when she looks at the singer.

“You don’t have to confirm or deny it”, she tells her, and Dinah feels a bit relieved, even though she figures her reaction has been answer enough anyway, “the woman has been trying to build a case against me for months. Too bad she’s not finding anything she can use.”

“She’s warned me”, Dinah says before she can stop herself, once more succumbing to the attraction she feels, despite her best intentions to ignore it, “to not get close to you. She told me that… you’re not a good person. And that you’re charming and nice until someone crosses you, then those people end up dead.”

“I did just kill a man in my basement”, Helena says, watching how Dinah puts her glass aside and comes to her feet, stepping closer to her, “I guess a good person wouldn’t do that.”

“You ridded the world of a scumbag”, Dinah tells her, the alcohol and the relief at how well this is working out for her making her bold and daring, so she reaches out and runs her hand down the other woman’s arm, the gentle touch clearly not expected, but not unwelcome, either, judging from the look on Helena’s face, “one might argue that this is a good thing.”

“You’re not exactly not getting close to me right now”, Helena points out, with an audible hitch in her breath which only spurs Dinah on further; perhaps, she ponders, this is stupid and rash and dangerous, perhaps she’s about to make a big mistake, but she’s seeing the way Helena is looking at her, the fact she’s not about to get murdered in a dark basement room is making her feel light-headed, and so, she can’t find it within herself to care, or the willpower to stop herself.

She’s wanted to do this since she’s first laid eyes on Helena, after all, and now it’s just the two of them, something which might not happen again anytime soon if she lets this moment go by unused.

“Well, you know”, she mumbles, so close to Helena now that their bodies are nearly touching, and she notices the taller woman swallow heavily, “I’ve never said I’m a good person, either.”

There’s not much space left between them, and it’s Helena who closes it, leaning in and kissing her; her hands go to Dinah’s waist and she pulls her closer, the singer reacting by pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and biting slightly, not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough to make Helena grunt against her mouth. 

The kiss deepens, and becomes more passionate, and then Helena makes Dinah groan by bringing up her thigh between her legs, grinding it against her; her hips twitch before she can control herself, and she pulls back from the kiss gasping for air, the decidedly wolfish smile which is curling Helena’s lips only turning her on more.

“Damn”, Dinah manages, Helena’s hands still on her hips, and her skin is burning even though there’s s layer of clothing between the mafiosa’s palms and her body, “you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do this? Since you walked into the club.”

“Likewise”, Helena lets her know, looking at her with what Dinah can only describe as pure, unbridled lust, “you walked out onto that stage and I wanted to jump you then and there. Do you have any idea how much self control I needed to not do that when you were in here with me after that, just you and me?”

“Well”, Dinah says, fingers moving to work on the other woman’s belt, “no need to hold back anymore now, right?”

Helena reacts by pulling her closer, and kissing her again, and Dinah undoes her belt, and Helena is very glad that nobody ever enters her office without knocking, because she certainly doesn’t want any of her guys to walk in on what they are about to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dinah and Helena: Good talk :D


	12. Chapter 12

To Dinah’s surprise, there’s still some guests around when they leave the office quite a while later, but Helena doesn’t seem bothered by it; and Dinah finds herself wondering if these people just have to take one look at them and know what they did, but the thought doesn’t embarrass her, it makes her want to smile, no matter what that says about her.

_ You just had sex with a woman who killed someone in her basement not even half an hour before you did the deed _ , she tells herself, and she expects to feel regret now, the high about how well the situation has worked out has worn off and she doesn’t feel drunk, either; she feels nothing but satisfied though, Helena has proven to be quite skilled and fast to figure out what she likes, and has made good use of the things she’s learned about her.

She finds herself wondering if that truly makes her a bad person, then shrugs it off - Sionis has been a sleazy bastard on his best days, and she doesn’t want to know what he has been involved in when he hasn’t been at the club, but whatever it has been, she figures Helena has had her reasons to kill him, and has an equally good reason to go after Zsasz.

Dinah also wonders if this had been a one time thing, she doesn’t want it to be, but she doesn’t know how to ask without coming across as needy or demanding; and so, she stands there, feeling a bit awkward as Helena is saying goodbye to the last few guests, halfway expecting her to turn to her then and tell her that she should get going now, as well.

“You want to spend the night?” Helena asks instead, giving her a smirk which can only be read as inviting, and apparently, that is enough for Luca at least to put two and two together, because he raises an eyebrow, then grins and gives a thumbs-up across the room, Dinah feeling her cheeks heat up; she still nods though, the thought of spending more time with Helena is better than the embarrassment of her goon knowing what they will be doing during that time. 

“Great”, Helena says at her agreement, “just give me a minute to see these people out, then I’ll be all yours.”

“Sounds good”, Dinah smiles, already looking forward to Helena’s hands and mouth on her skin again; Helena gives her another smirk, then walks the last few people to the door, and the moment they are gone, she has Dinah by the hand and leads her upstairs, to the bedroom. 

“Holy shit”, Dinah can’t stop herself from blurting when she sees the size of the bed there, it’s easily big enough to let five people sleep comfortably, “did you buy the biggest bed you could find? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bed this big.”

“I’m a restless sleeper”, Helena says to that, of all things; for a moment, Dinah stares at her, then she laughs, and Helena smiles, clearly glad that her joke has been so well received.

“Who would have thought”, Dinah says, stepping closer to her and wrapping both arms around her, “the mob boss has a sense of humour, as well. Now, why don’t you show me what other skills you have? I imagine the things you did in your office weren’t all you’re capable of.”

“Gladly”, Helena says, then kisses her, simultaneously prompting her to move backwards with gentle pressure until she ends up falling onto the bed, and she pulls Helena with her, on top of her, quite certain they won’t be doing any sleeping, restless or any other kind, anytime soon.

* * *

The bed is huge, but still Dinah ends up cuddled up against Helena once they fall asleep; her head is resting on the taller woman’s shoulder, and Helena’s arms are loosely wrapped around her, holding her close even as they both are fast asleep.

She’s close to her, and so, she wakes up at once when Helena groans in her sleep, and it’s not the passionate sort of groan she’s heard from her earlier.

Momentarily confused, Dinah blinks, needing a moment to remember where she is and who is with her; then it comes back, just as Helena groans again, and she sits up, blinking as her eyes get used to the dark.

“Helena?” she whispers, not quite sure if she should touch her, the other woman tossing and turning though, clearly not having heard her; she groans again, and then presses out such a pained sounding “no” that Dinah can’t take this another second longer.

She reaches out and touches Helena’s arm, and the other woman’s eye snaps open at once and she pulls her fist back, and only her own trained reflexes allow Dinah to duck the punch, Helena’s fist punching the air above her head instead of her face.

“Shit”, Helena then belatedly seems to realize what she almost just had done, “shit Dinah, I’m sorry, I…”

She falls silent and for a moment just stares, her face working - before she practically bolts from the bed and rushes to the adjoining room, Dinah’s heart clenching up when she hears her throw up moments later.

For a moment, she’s not sure if she should follow her or leave her alone, then decides that after what they have done together, it’d be wrong to just ignore this; and so, she gets up, wraps herself up in the blanket and makes her way to the bathroom, feeling bad for Helena again when she finds her kneeling in front of the toilet, her head resting against the flushing tank, and only now in the harsh bathroom light, Dinah can see how pale she is.

“Hey”, she says, kneeling down next to her and gently pushing her hair out of her face, for a moment, Helena feels like looking away - the eyepatch has come off before they’d begun hours ago, but it had been dim light back then, and now, what’s left of her eye can be seen all too clearly, but Dinah doesn’t seem to mind, “you want me to get you some water? ...or a drink?”

Helena just gestures at the washbasin in response, she always keeps a clean glass there for when this happens, as it isn’t a rare occurrence, neither the nightmares, nor the throwing up after; she has been hoping it wouldn’t happen with Dinah around, but clearly, she’s not so lucky, feeling embarrassed now even though Dinah doesn’t look as if she’s judging her.

Dinah gives her a calming smile, and takes a moment to rub her back, then gets up and fills the glass with water; she hands it to her, and Helena washes her mouth out before she drinks, getting rid of the taste of puke before she takes a few sips.

“Thanks”, she then mumbles, putting the glass on the floor next to herself, “and, um… sorry.”

“Don’t be”, Dinah tells her at once, rubbing her back again, the gentle gesture helping Helena to calm down further, “you want to talk about it…?”

“Not really, no”, Helena mumbles, sighing afterwards, her gaze coming up again to meet Dinah’s, “but there is something I should tell you. In case this is not a one time thing.”

“Okay?” Dinah gives back, she doesn’t want it to be a one time thing, and she figures Helena doesn’t want this, either, if she’s willing to share something big with her, “it’s not for me if you don’t want it to be either so… I’m willing to listen to whatever you want to tell me.”

“You should just know”, Helena says, voice soft now, and Dinah can tell how hard this is for her, her eyes going wide a second later at what the taller woman says next, “that… I’m not who you think I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun duuuun XD


	13. Chapter 13

“What do you mean”, Dinah finally finds her voice again, Helena belatedly realizing they’re still in her bathroom and deciding this isn’t the right place for this talk, as she comes to her feet and returns to the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, Dinah moving to do the same next to her, looking at her in confusion still.

“Well, I am Helena Bertinelli”, Helena says, “that part is true. But the whole ruthless mafia lady? Cold mob boss? That part is not.”

Dinah can only blink, this is pretty much the last thing she’s been expected to hear; Helena gives her a wry smile, and shrugs, then sighs to herself, running a shaky hand through her hair before she continues, giving a more detailed explanation.

“Don’t get me wrong, it was”, she says, “it was what I was raised to be. My family did make most of their money with illegal shit, everything but drugs and human trafficking, my mom wouldn’t let dad touch that with a ten foot pole. But that is also what got them killed, and what cost me my eye, and nearly killed me too. So when I got out of the hospital, I started… making changes to the family business.”

“How does nobody know that”, Dinah wants to know, gaping at her, “everyone I know thinks you’re one of the most powerful crime lords in Gotham!”

“That is helpful, you know”, Helena dryly tells her, recovering from the upset state she’s been in after her nightmare, “makes sure people don’t try to cheat you when doing honest business deals. My family had some honest businesses going on too, you know, before… it happened, so when I got out of the hospital and took over, all I had to do was put more focus on those and slowly dial back on the illegal stuff. I’m almost out of it all completely, I imagine it will become common knowledge at some point then.”

“Holy shit”, is all Dinah can say to that, blinking, then her eyes suddenly go wide as a thought hits her, “no wonder Renee can’t get any dirt on you! Cause there’s nothing to find! Why don’t you just tell her?”   


“Like she’d believe me”, Helena replies with a roll of her eye, and Dinah has to admit that’s a good point, “and I have nothing to worry about, like you said, there’s nothing to find. If it makes her happy, let her dig. Well, um… except for the guys I killed, that is. But she’ll have a hard time connecting those murders to me.”

“They were involved, weren’t they”, Dinah realizes at once, Helena giving her a surprised look, apparently not having expected her to make that connection so fast, with what little information she has, “in what happened to your family. Sionis too? And Zsasz?”

“Sionis profited”, Helena tells her, not really surprising her, “and Zsasz… Zsasz is the one who did this.”

She vaguely gestures at her eye, and once again, Dinah can only stare; she’s heard rumours that Zsasz is into some creepy shit involving knives, and that he does Sionis’ dirty work for him, but this is a level she hasn’t expected even from him, and before she can stop herself or think about it, she reaches up and traces the scar, Helena pulling in a sharp breath at the unexpected, but tender touch.

“Jesus”, Dinah lets out, pulling her hand back, “were you…?”

“Awake when he did it?” Helena finishes for her, making her nod, “yeah. You ever accidentally poke yourself in the eye? It was like that, only about a thousand times worse.”

She tries to sound glib about it, if only to lighten the mood a bit, but Dinah still looks as if she’s about to be sick now, and despite her best efforts, Helena can’t keep the slight tremble out of her voice as saying the words brings her back, to how she’s been flat on her back in the parlour, her family lying dying or dead around her, Zsasz kneeling on her, his legs pinning her arms down so she can’t fight him, the way he laughs when he brings the knife down and starts cutting, and the blinding pain, and how she’s heard someone scream and has belatedly realized it’s her own voice.

“It was still lucky he did that, you know”, she says, Dinah staring at her in disbelief, until she explains, “he… wasted time with that, so Sal could come to the rescue. If he had just shot me or cut my throat, he would have been too late, but thanks to his need to do that… And hey, the eyepatch and the scar really help with making me look badass and mean, another bonus to keep people from trying to cheat me.”

“I imagine”, Dinah says with a small laugh, earning a wry smile from the taller woman, “it didn’t work on me though, you know, one of the first thoughts I had when you came to the club for the first time was how attractive you are.  _ Badass and mean _ were not thoughts I was having.”

“Lucky me”, Helena says, making the singer smile again, “and not to sound rude, but I hope  _ criminal mafia boss lady is hot _ wasn’t a thought you had, either, cause then I guess I’d not be so hot anymore.”

“Well, I am into tall, dark and mysterious”, Dinah lets her know, making her raise an eyebrow, “and you check all those boxes, so no worries there. And, well… the fact that you’re  _ not _ an evil mob boss? That makes you more appealing, not less.”

“Happy to hear”, Helena tells her, making her smile again, “I didn’t think you’d just be into me because of that, but, well… still good to know for sure. I’d kiss you now, you know, but I did just puke so…”

“Yeah, no kissing until you’ve brushed your teeth”, Dinah says with another small laugh, “but we can cuddle? If you want to?”

Helena nods at once, then shuffles back on the bed until she can lie down comfortably; Dinah cuddles up to her again, like they’d been lying before Helena’s nightmare has woken her, letting out a small sigh when she gets comfortable, her head once more resting on the taller woman’s shoulder, and she’s glad to hear that her heartbeat is slow and calm again.

“Sleep well”, Helena mumbles, moving one hand to rub her back and making her sigh again, “and… thank you.”

Dinah just squeezes her slightly in reply, then tells her to sleep well, too; and a short while later, they’re both fast asleep again, and both sleep peacefully through the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have accidentally poked myself in the eye (because I am very clumsy), I feel you Helena >_<


	14. Chapter 14

In the next morning, Helena and Dinah have breakfast together, and quite the big one, too, Dinah wonders if Helena eats like this every morning or if she’s had it made specially for her; she’s never been one to hold back such things, and so she asks, Helena smirking as she shrugs, spreading jam on a waffle as she replies.

“Actually, my cook insists on doing this every day”, she says, Dinah raising an eyebrow, “I usually have breakfast with Sal and Luca, they put away most of it. I imagine they will once we’re done.”

“Huh”, Dinah lets out, spearing a piece of bacon on her fork, “one of the perks of being rich, I guess? And aw, I hope Sal and Luca won’t be jealous then, if they don’t get to eat breakfast with you because of me.”

“Nah”, Helena tells her at once, “they’ll be okay. We should be glad they’re not here, there would be teasing. So much teasing.”

“Yeah, Luca did give a shit-eating grin and a thumbs up yesterday”, Dinah remembers, Helena making a face in response, “so they knew? That you… like me?”

“They claim it was hard to miss”, Helena admits, Dinah smirking at this, “Sal in particular, he told me he almost expected me to jump on stage and drag you off for a make-out session, but that might have not been the best way to woo you.”

“Perhaps not right off the stage, no”, Dinah tells her, amused when she blushes a bit, a far cry from the cold ruthless woman people claim she is, “but just so you know, I wouldn’t mind you visiting my backstage room after a set.”

“Good to know”, Helena says, her turn to smirk now; Dinah smiles back at her, and winks at her, she’s not sure what they have right now, if it’s a relationship or something between that and friends with benefits, but no matter what it is, it makes her feel good.

“I better make time to drop by tonight, then”, Helena adds, earning another happy smile from the singer, “wouldn’t want to miss that opportunity.”

“Looking forward to it”, Dinah reassures her, making it Helena’s turn to smile; then, they finish breakfast, Dinah a bit regretful when she tells the taller woman she should get going, but she doesn’t want to overstay her welcome, especially not as long as she doesn’t actually know what exactly it is Helena and she are having right now.

“I’ll tell Giovanni to drive you home”, Helena offers, Dinah figuring that this is the driver who’s picked her up before; grateful for the ride, she nods, and Helena goes to tell the man, then walks Dinah to the door, pulling her in for a gentle kiss there, and making it decidedly harder for Dinah to leave. 

“I’ll see you tonight”, she still makes herself say, instead of suggesting that they go back to the bedroom, figuring Helena has actual business to do and can’t spend the day in bed with her, “but just so you know, I’ll be thinking a lot about you until then.”

“I’ll be thinking of you, too”, Helena reassures her, making her smile once more; and even though she knows she should get going, Dinah kisses her again, then finally forces herself to step outside, Giovanni already waiting for her next to the car.

He looks amused as well, she notes, and find herself wondering if Helena’s whole staff knows that they’ve shared her bed the previous night; on the other hand, it hasn’t been a one time thing, and she figures she’ll spend more time at this place now, so sooner or later, the staff would have figured it out one way or another.

At least, the driver doesn’t make any comment as he gets into the car once she has and starts the engine; like during the times he’s driven her before, he’s silent, only telling her to have a good day when he stops in front of her apartment building.

“You too”, Dinah tells him, making him smile a bit; she returns the smile, then gets out of the car and makes her way to her apartment, planning to run some errands and get some relaxation before her performance that evening, already looking forward to seeing Helena again.

* * *

By the time Dinah gets done with her chores and errands, she still has an hour left until she has to leave for the club, and she decides to spend that time on her couch; just as she sits down though, there’s a knock at her door, and she grumbles, hoping it’s not the cop again, she’s not worried for her safety anymore after what Helena has told her, but she doesn’t want to have that discussion again.

“Dinah?” she hears Cassandra call out to her through the door, and immediately feels bad for grumbling, figuring that her foster parents are being assholes again, “are you home?”

“I am”, Dinah calls back, getting up from the couch and moving to the door, “but I gotta go to work in…”

She pulls the door open and falls silent, freezing, her eyes going wide - because it’s not just Cassandra standing in front of her door, but Victor Zsasz, too, and he has one arm wrapped around the girl and uses his other hand to point a gun to her head.

“The little songbird”, he says, smiling his creepy smile at her, “who sings for someone else now. Don’t you want to ask us in?”

For a moment, Dinah considers using her power against him, then realizes she can’t, not with how he has Cassandra in front of himself, using her as a human shield; even if she could tell her to cover her ears, she’d end up hurting her, and so, all she can do is step back and let them enter, Zsasz making sure to keep a firm grip on the teenager as he pushes her into the apartment.

He doesn’t know about her power, no one but the annoying cop does and even Renee has just guessed it, but he still keeps her from using it, refusing to let go of Cassandra even once they both are inside and he could have kept her under control by pointing his gun at her.

“I hear you got close to the person you sing for now”, he says, and her mind races as she tries to figure out he can know about that, “why don’t you give her a call? Ask her to come here? I got some old debts to settle with her, and you know I don’t like to have debts.”

“I know what you did to her”, Dinah spits in reply, her anger at what he has done momentarily outweighing her fear of him; he just grins, not bothered, and shrugs, then nods at her phone, a cruel glint in his eyes she has seen before, but it has never been aimed at her, and it makes her skin crawl.

“Then call her now”, he says, keeping the gun steadily aimed at Cassandra’s head, “or I’ll do the same thing to you. And to the kid.”

Cassandra looks terrified at that, even though she has no idea what Dinah and Zsasz are talking about; and as she has to realize that she has no choice, Dinah gets out her phone and dials, Zsasz giving her a warning look as she holds it to her ear, mouthing “sound normal” at her as she waits for Helena to take the call.

“Yes?” Helena does, and somehow, Dinah manages to sound steady when she says that there is a problem and asks her to come by; and clearly, Helena doesn’t suspect anything, letting her know she’ll be there as fast as possible.

“Okay, my big bad mafiosa”, Dinah says lightly, she hopes Helena will catch on due to that choice of words that something weird is going on; if she does, she doesn’t say so though, just says bye and ends the call, but at least Zsasz hasn’t caught on, risky as it has been, just looking smug now.

“Good”, he says, “and now we wait. Why don’t you sit down? Nice and slow. Do as I say, and the kid and you might make it out alive.”

Dinah slowly does sit down, giving Cassandra an apologetic look as she does so; for a moment, she considers rushing Zsasz anyway, but it’s too dangerous, he might react too fast and fire, and she can’t take that risk.

And so, she just sits there, and waits, Zsasz staring at her the whole time; it seems to take forever, but finally, there’s a knock on the door, and Helena calls out “Dinah…?”, and Zsasz turns and fires off three shots into the wood, through the wood, and Dinah hears a body hit the ground and cries out while Zsasz shoves Cassandra against her, then leaps out the window and is gone, not bothering to make sure he’s finished the job.

Dinah’s fairly certain he has, because Helena has been right in front of the door when he’s fired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another cliffhanger... I'm so sorry ^^;


	15. Chapter 15

Dinah yanks the door open so forcefully she almost tears it off the hinges, and her heart stops for a few painful seconds when she sees Helena down on the ground, slumped against the wall; a second later, she realizes though that the taller woman is pressing one hand against her chest and is wheezing for breath, it sounds awful, but it means she’s alive.

“Helena!” she manages as she rushes to her side, Cassandra behind her in the doorway, watching the scene unfold with wide eyes, “shit, he got you, didn’t he, we need to call an ambulance, just don’t… just hold on, okay?”

“I’m fine”, Helena wheezes, and Dinah freezes in disbelief, then shakes her head, probably some sort of shock response, she decides as she kneels down next to her, not quite daring to touch her, even though she wants to.

“You’re not fine, he shot you, but you’ll be okay”, she says, managing to sound a bit less frantic now, it has to be a good sign that Helena can still talk, “I just need you to keep holding on, alright? Okay?”

“I’m fine”, Helena says again, already sounding less breathless, and this time, Dinah takes a closer look, and pauses, frowning as a not unimportant fact registers.

There’s bullet holes in Helena’s shirt, but not a drop of blood.

“You’re wearing a bulletproof vest, aren’t you”, she realizes, and is so relieved that she wants to cry for a moment; looking up at her now, Helena manages a wry smile and nods, then opens the first two buttons of her shirt, exposing the black kevlar of the vest underneath, Dinah running a shaking hand down her face as her relief threatens to overwhelm her.

“Still hurts like a bitch though”, Helena says, then seems to notice Cassandra for the first time and goes wide-eyed at having used such language in front of the kid, “uh, I mean… hurts… a lot.”

“Please”, Cassandra says, recovering quickly from the danger she’s been in, “I’ve heard worse than  _ bitch _ . That is so cool though. Your eyepatch is cool, too.”

“Um, thanks?” Helena gives back, while Dinah just shakes her head at the teenager, then helps Helena to her feet; the taller woman grimaces and her hand briefly comes up to her chest again, and Dinah figures it still can’t be pleasant, the bullet having been stopped by the vest, but still having hit her with full force.

“Are you sure you don’t need an ambulance”, she thus says, keeping one arm around her just in case, “you can still be hurt!”

“I’m gonna have massive bruises”, Helena tells her, making her grimace, “but I’m fine, really. Now tell me what happened.”

“It was Zsasz”, Dinah lets her know, not really surprising her, still keeping one arm around her as she leads her into the apartment, worried again when Helena sits down on her couch somewhat heavily and grimaces again, once again reaching for her chest, “he… he’d grabbed Cassandra, threatened to shoot her unless I’d call you and get you to come here. I’m sorry, I didn’t know what else to do…”

“It’s fine”, Helena reassures her at once, this is the first time she’s meeting Cassandra, but she can tell that the kid means a lot to Dinah, “that was really smart you know, calling me your big bad mafiosa, I immediately got the feeling something’s wrong.”

“Thank God that worked”, Dinah sighs in relief, “I wasn’t sure it would, I had to tell you some way that something’s wrong, but he was here with the gun so… And still you just came here on your own?! What if he had aimed higher, he still would have killed you even with the vest!”

She smacks her arm, and Helena makes a face, Cassandra looking amused at the argument; Helena shrugs, then points out that she’s had no idea what exactly was wrong.

“And honestly, I’m surprised he just did that”, she then adds, frowning, “shooting through the door and assuming I’m dead. You’d think he’d want to make sure.”

“Well, he had no idea you knew something was wrong”, Dinah points out, even though she knows Helena is right, “and if you hadn’t been wearing that vest, you would be dead now. So it’s not a stupid assumption to make.”

“He’ll soon know it didn’t work though”, Helena sighs, not liking the thought of the man coming after her, “at the latest when there’s not obituary in the paper tomorrow. Or no articles, I’m fairly certain they’d make it a story if I got shot and died.”

“Yeah, you are kind of a big name”, Dinah has to agree, “so what are you going to do? You know he’ll come after you again, he said he has a debt to settle with you.”

“Wonder if he knows I killed Sionis”, Helena mumbles, more to herself than to anyone else, but Cassandra goes wide-eyed anyway, Dinah giving her a look which hopefully conveys that it’s okay, “but I guess not, not yet, he would have made sure I’m dead if he knew. Or he would have tried it a different way, a slower, more gruesome one.”

“Helena”, Dinah says in a warning tone, “kid in the room, remember?”

“Shit”, Helena lets out, then claps one hand over her mouth as this hasn’t exactly been kid-friendly, either; Cassandra looks more amused than shocked again though, turning to Dinah, her words when she speaks up making the singer roll her eyes.

“Please tell me this is your girlfriend”, the teenager says, “cause she’s so cool. I like her.”

“How fortunate”, Dinah dryly says, “and I’m glad you’re recovering so fast from the trauma of being taken hostage.”

“I knew you wouldn’t let anything happen to me”, Cassandra says confidently, and Dinah falls silent, touched; Helena smiles a bit as well, then clears her throat, making them both look at her, and she vaguely gestures at the still open door and the bullet holes in it, Dinah knowing she’s right when she speaks up.

“I don’t want the two of you to stay here”, Helena says, “not with Zsasz still out there, and not after he’s already gone after you once. I’d like you to come stay at my place.”

“My foster parents won’t let me”, Cassandra says, making a face while Dinah nods, “they don’t care much, but they do like the monthly check they get for me.”

“They live here too?” Helena asks in response, making the teenager nod again before she tells her they live one floor above Dinah; Helena comes to her feet, earning a questioning look from Dinah, and she smirks, clearly not willing to give up on her idea so fast.

“I’m a tall scary woman with an eyepatch”, she then says, Dinah smiling slightly as well now, “badass and mean, remember? Trust me, I’ll convince them.”

She turns and leaves the apartment, but as she does, she still hears Cassandra say “your girlfriend is  _ so  _ cool”, and she finds herself smiling, glad that at least for the moment, they’re no longer in danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay smart Dinah and smart Helena! XD


	16. Chapter 16

During the drive back to her mansion, Helena calls Sal and tells him to get one of the guest rooms ready; he’s waiting at the door when they arrive, looking not surprised at seeing Dinah and Cassandra tagging along, but immediately zeroing in on how Helena’s hand goes to her chest again when she gets out of the car, his eyes narrowing.

“You went right into danger, didn’t you”, he says, pointing a finger accusingly, “you told us not to come cause you weren’t sure what was going on but you were shot! Oh my God, I can see the bullet holes from here! Helena!”

“I’m fine”, Helena grumbles, Dinah at the same time touched at the man’s worry for the taller woman and amused at how he’s scolding her, as if she’s a kid he caught with her hand in the cookie jar, “I was smart enough to wear a bulletproof vest.”

“Yes, cause those turn bullets into harmless little balls of fluff”, Sal deadpans, then his gaze switches to Dinah, and for a moment, she worries she might get scolded, as well, “you! You’re fine?”

“Um, yes?” Dinah says, not sure where this is going, the man giving a short nod in response, not sounding as if he allows any protest when he speaks up again.

“Good”, he says, “you come with me then, I’ll give you something for the bruising. I know her, she’ll say she’ll use it, but she won’t cause she’s stubborn, so I want you to make sure she does use it. Luca! They’re here, show the kid to her room!”

Helena groans and hides her face, blushing a bit when Dinah smirks at her as she walks up to Sal, clearly siding with him and against her; she grumbles about that, but doesn’t protest, just sighing and nodding when Sal tells her to go wait in her bedroom.

Luca appears to take care of Cassandra, and she seems to take an instant liking to him as he greets her happily; he tells her that they’ve readied a room close to Helena’s bedroom for her, and that she’ll hopefully like it, asking her to follow him as she nods in agreement, impressed by the size of the house

“You’ll be like a princess here”, Dinah still hears Luca say as Sal leads the way, “whatever you need, you’ll get it, I promise, the boss takes good care of her guests. You like video games? I like video games, so…”

His voice trails off as he walks up the stairs with Cassandra, and Dinah focuses on Sal again; the bald man is still grumbling to himself about his reckless boss, but Dinah can tell he’s relieved and happy they’re both okay, no matter how much he grumbles. 

“Who was it?” he asks as he enters what appears to be a office and opens an absurdly large first aid kit mounted to the wall there, “who shot her?”

“Zsasz”, Dinah replies, grimacing as she thinks back to how helpless the man has made her feel, “he’d grabbed the kid, forced me to call Helena and ask her to come to my place. If she hadn’t been wearing that vest… I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything, I tried to warn her by calling her my big bad mafiosa, luckily that worked out.”

Sal pauses his rummaging in the first aid kit then, and Dinah realizes what she’s just said; after a moment, he continues, and finally finds what he is looking for, a small white tube of cream which he hands to her.

“She told you, then?” he asks, even though Dinah figures he already knows the answer to that question, “wow, she must be serious about you then. So far, no one but those closest to her of the staff have known.”

“I’m serious about her, too”, Dinah tells him, realizing that she means it the moment she says it, “she… I know I haven’t known her for that long yet but she means a lot to me.”

“That’s good”, Sal solemnly says, “cause I know you mean a lot to her, too. Now, go find her and put this on the bruising, she’ll probably complain and say she won’t need it, but it’ll dull the pain and help them heal faster.”

“Okay”, Dinah says, making him smile again, “thank you. I’ll make sure this gets onto her.”

“I bet you will”, Sal says, his smile turning into a grin; Dinah rolls her eyes and swats at him with her free hand, then turns and walks off while he snickers to himself, the singer belatedly realizing that she’s not quite sure she remembers the way to Helena’s bedroom.

Walking up the stairs, she figures she can just call out to her if she can’t find her, but thankfully, she does remember, and finds the bedroom at her first try; Helena is sitting on the bed, she’s removed the shirt and the bulletproof vest, and Dinah grimaces when she gets a look at her upper body.

“Okay”, she says, with a strict look at the taller woman, “don’t even try to tell me you don’t need this. Sal said it’s good against the pain and I will not believe you if you tell me now that doesn’t hurt.”

She can tell where the bullets have hit even without looking at the vest, the bruises paint quite the clear picture; they’re a dark and angry purple, one at Helena’s ribcage, one a bit below that and one close to her collarbone, and as Dinah looks at them, she once more has to realize that Helena would be dead now, had she not been wearing the vest.

She’s always been somewhat level-headed, and in good control of her emotions, but all at once, tears blur her sight, and she can barely hold back a stifled sob; and immediately, Helena is on her feet, saying “oh Dinah honey no, don’t cry, please”, moving to hug her, the pain this causes easily ignored as she hates it to see Dinah so upset.

“I’m sorry”, Dinah tells her, wiping at her eyes as she valiantly struggles to hold the tears back before more can escape, “I could have lost you, if you hadn’t worn that or if he had aimed higher and there was nothing I could do, what good is all my training and my skills if I can’t stop some creepy criminal from hurting you?”

“You were looking out for the kid, and that was good and noble”, Helena reassures her, rubbing her back, suddenly acutely aware that she’s only in her bra and that Dinah is holding on to her by now, scolding herself to get her mind out of the gutter as this is not the right time, “and you did think fast enough to warn me that something is wrong. You did everything right, no use in risking Cassandra’s life. Or your own.”

“I’m still sorry”, Dinah sighs, having her emotions under control again, the tears drying up, “look at you. How badly does it hurt?”

“Eh”, Helena shrugs, bravely hiding that this movement actually does hurt, “I’ve had worse.”

Dinah rolls her eyes at this and mumbles “macho” under her breath, the taller woman smirking in response, glad that the upset state of the singer is fading; Dinah gives her a strict look and orders her to sit down again, waving the cream in her face and telling her that she’s not getting out of being take care of, no matter if she wants it or not.

“Okay, fine”, Helena gives in quickly, sitting down on the edge of the bed again, “wow, you can be terrifying.”

“You haven’t seen me terrifying yet”, Dinah tells her, briefly thinking of her power, but pushing those thoughts aside rigorously; Helena raises an eyebrow, doesn’t question her thought, hissing when Dinah starts spreading the cold cream on the first bruise, Dinah giving her an apologetic look as she makes sure to not apply too much pressure.

“Maybe not”, the taller woman says after a moment, “but I’ve seen something else. You’re a better person than you think.”

Dinah briefly pauses and looks up at her, Helena holding her gaze and giving her a small smile; and after a moment, Dinah just smiles as well and shrugs, then focuses on her task again, the smile still curling her lips though as Helena’s words have made her feel quite warm and tingly inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tsk tsk Dinah, keeping secrets after everything Helena has told you... Hehehe.


	17. Chapter 17

“Dude, my room is awesome”, Cassandra announces as she joins them for dinner, after having spent quite some time playing video games with Luca (and Helena hoping he has chosen appropriate ones, she knows he does like to play some which are for adults only), “and that Luca guy is so nice, he’s got awesome games. Dinah, where are you staying? I want to see your room, too.”

“Oh, um”, Dinah lets out, “I’m staying in Helena’s room. So you have to ask her if you can see it.”

“Sure”, Helena shrugs, while Cassandra just nods wisely, apparently having missed that Dinah has felt a bit awkward there for a moment, “but first dinner, alright?”

“Okay”, Cassandra amicably agrees; Helena has instructed her cook to prepare something a thirteen year old would eat, and so they are served which is probably the most luxurious burger Dinah has ever seen, with french fries and home-made sauce, her mouth watering at the mere sight of it.

“This is awesome”, Cassandra seems to agree, “thank you Helena, Dinah good job in finding such an awesome girlfriend.”

“You’re welcome”, Helena smirks while Dinah, to her amusement, seems to blush a bit; she doesn’t say anything though, and for a while, they all focus on eating, Cassandra practically inhaling the food, somehow though managing to not stain the tablecloth. 

“I know you won’t like this”, Helena is the one to break the silence, making them both look at her, “but I’d like you to not go to the club tonight. Zsasz is still out there and he might try again to get at me through you.”

“You’re right, I don’t like it”, Dinah sighs, “but you’re right, even if he doesn’t know you’re still alive, he might show up there to get rid of me, I have seen him trying to kill you. And taking Cassandra hostage. I just wonder how he knew.”

“Knew what?” Helena wants to know, frowning when Dinah replies, her frown deepening as the unpleasant implications about the singer’s words hit home fully.

“About you and me”, Dinah tells her, “he said he heard we got close when he told me to call you. How did he know? I know I haven’t told anyone, and you don’t seem like the kind of person who’d post that on Facebook or something.”

“There’s only one way he can know”, Helena mumbles, her appetite suddenly gone, “he can’t have noticed at the club, because he wasn’t there. So someone who saw us together told him. Either someone from the club or… someone from here.”

Dinah frowns as well now, not liking the thought of someone from Helena’s staff betraying her to Zsasz like that; there were a few guests who had seen her still there when they had been the last to leave, and she figures it could have been one of them, something she points out to Helena, the taller woman nodding, but still looking doubtful.

“Those guys were all from the non-shady parts of my businesses though”, she says, still frowning, “I’ve stopped inviting the shadier clientele a while ago. That doesn’t mean they’re not involved in shady shi-- stuff I don’t know about, but still.”

“Nice safe”, Cassandra comments, and Helena makes a face, she’s been hoping the curse cut short would have gone unnoticed, “and I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but I’ve heard worse words than  _ shit _ , so don’t hold back because of me.”

“You’re a child”, Helena says, in a tone of disapproval which makes Dinah smile, “you might have heard those words, but you shouldn’t be hearing them. Dinah, I’ll talk to Sal and Luca after dinner, maybe they’ll have an idea what we can do about our… problem.”

Dinah nods, then changes the topic by asking Cassandra how school has been; the teenager willingly tells her, but even as she entertains them with a story about how a boy fell onto his butt during PE class, Helena looks distracted, only picking at her food now while Dinah and Cassandra still eat with quite the healthy appetite, and Dinah gives her worried looks every now and then, trying to figure out how to make this better.

* * *

After dinner, Cassandra retreats to her room while Helena asks Dinah, Sal and Luca to join her in her office; once they all are there, and Helena has handed out drinks, she asks Dinah to recount what Zsasz has said to her, both Luca and Sal frowning at her words, the two men exchanging a worried look before they both focus on Helena.

“He knew”, Sal is the one to say it out loud, Luca nodding along, “how?”

“That’s the question”, Helena sighs, “there’s not that many people who knew. The last few stragglers from when Dinah spent the night after the dinner party, and some people from my staff, not even all of those.”

“Who from the staff knows?” Luca wants to know, “apart from Sal and me? Assuming you don’t suspect us, that is.”

“Please”, Helena scoffs, making them both smile, “well, there’s Joseph, and Giovanni, they’ve at least seen Dinah here in the morning, they might put two and two together, I’ve had Giovanni drive her home in the morning. I’m not sure if Frankie has seen her.”

“We should talk to them”, Sal suggests, “the three of us, in here, that might make them nervous enough to slip up or to confess right away. And fast, before they warn Zsasz that you’re still alive, boss.”

“If someone from my staff is working with him, he probably already knows”, Helena sighs, Dinah making a face at the thought, not liking the idea of Zsasz coming after Helena again, “but you’re right, we should get them in here one after the other and question them. You want to be here for that too, Dinah?”

“Sure”, Dinah replies with a shrug, then smiles, “remember, you said I can be terrifying, that might be helpful.”

Helena smirks at that, while Sal and Luca both look curious, but apparently know better than to just ask; and so, since they want to get started on this quickly, Sal gets up to get Frankie, figuring that it doesn’t matter with whom they start, but the woman has been Helena’s secretary for years and Helena claims she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body, so she wants to get this over with when it comes to her.

Feeling bad for her at someone possibly having betrayed her like this, Dinah gives her a sympathetic look, and after a moment, Helena smiles at her; then, the door opens again and Sal enters with Frankie in tow, and from one second to the next, Helena is the cold, ruthless mafiosa again, Dinah a bit amazed at how effortlessly she slips into that persona.

She doesn’t think anyone will be able to stand up to that glare and lie in her face, and she’s fairly certain they will soon know if one of the staff has betrayed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I want a burger... XD


	18. Chapter 18

The moment Giovanni steps into the room, Helena can tell he is guilty about  _ something _ , the way he avoids looking at her and actually flinches when he sees Dinah sit there, and momentarily, she’s saddened, she’s known him since she’s been a child and wouldn’t have thought he’d sell her out.

Then, the sadness is pushed aside by rage, and she doesn’t need to try hard to slip into cold and ruthless mode with him.

“Talk”, she says, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him, and he looks as if he wants to turn and bolt, but Sal is in front of the door, glaring as well, making it clear he won’t get past him.

“Yeah, I told him”, the driver says after a moment, and Helena’s eye narrows, “and I also told him you’re still alive. But you won’t kill me now, right? Because you’re such a  _ good person _ , getting away from all the crime.”

“This is why you work with Zsasz?” Helena wants to know, her anger momentarily slipping as the disbelief is too big, “because I’m trying to be  _ less _ of a criminal?”

“I’ve helped your father build on what your grandfather started”, Giovanni says in response, “turn this into an empire, and you’re throwing it all away! Because of one mishap!”

“ _ One mishap _ ?!” Helena roars, the rage immediately burning brightly again, and Giovanni shrinks back as he realizes how wrong it has been to say that, “my whole family got  _ killed  _ in front of me! I lost an eye! And you dare call this  _ one mishap _ ?!”

Before anyone has the chance to realize what she’s about to do, Helena has punched him, and he goes down from the force of her hit; and a moment later, she’s straddling him, and punching him again, and again, before the startled others have a chance to react.

“Helena!” Sal is the first to snap out of it, rushing to stop her, Luca following a second later, “stop!”

It takes both of them to drag her off of the driver, and he remains on the ground, groaning quietly; Dinah is still stunned by this sudden outburst of violent anger, she’s seen Helena cold and ruthless before, but never like this.

_ He’s bleeding onto the expensive carpet,  _ she nonsensically thinks to herself, then Giovanni groans and starts to sit up, and Helena starts straining against the hold both Luca and Sal have on her, clearly not done with beating him up yet.

“Helena”, Sal says again, moving now that he is between her and the driver, making sure to stand in her line of sight, “this is rage. You know what you do with rage.”

He sounds calm and composed, and Dinah all at once just knows that this is not the first time he’s saying this; and it seems to work fast, as Helena stops straining against the hold Luca and he still have on her, still looking angry, but not trying to break free anymore to beat Giovanni to a pulp.

“Tell me”, Sal demands, holding her gaze, not allowing her to look away, “tell me what you do with the rage.”

“...I control it”, Helena says after a few tense seconds have ticked by, “I don’t let it control me.”

“Yes”, Sal nods, “good. Deep breath now okay? I know that’s gonna hurt with the bruising, but can you do that for me anyway?”

“Fucking weak”, Giovanni grunts behind him, and now he wants to turn around and beat him up when Helena goes tense again; before Sal or Helena can do anything though, Dinah has taken a swift step forward and kicks the driver in the ribs, making him yelp in pain.

“Shut your filthy mouth, asshole”, she snaps at him, her turn to be angry now, even though it’s not the unbridled murderous rage Helena has shown, “you almost got her killed! Because of your bruised ego?! Fuck you!”

She kicks him again, and he groans, and for a moment, she feels like landing a third kick; then, she decides against it and takes a step back, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him.

“Take him out of my sight”, Helena coldly says, the rage for the moment gone again, “downstairs. Until I’ve decided what I want to do with him.”

“Yes boss”, Luca says, letting go of her now that she doesn’t look as if she wants to strangle the driver with her bare hands; together with Sal, he pulls the groaning man to his feet, and they drag him out of the room, and Dinah is fairly certain she hears one of them punch him as well on the way to the basement.

She feels darkly satisfied at that, but when she turns to look at Helena, that feeling is gone at once, because Helena is staring at her feet, and seems to find it impossible to look at her.

“Hey”, she softly says, taking a step closer to her, not quite sure if any sort of touch is welcome now, but then unable to not show some sort of comfort, and so, she reaches out and places a tender hand on Helena’s arm, glad when there’s no negative reaction to her touch, “is there anything I can do…?”

“You shouldn’t have seen me like this”, Helena tonelessly says in response, and Dinah is taken aback, a feeling which only grows when the taller woman continues, “I get it if you’re too freaked out now to continue this, I…”

“What?” Dinah interrupts her, shaking her head for emphasis, “Helena, no. He’s been working for you for years, and he betrayed you, to an asshole like Zsasz no less! Come on, everyone would have gotten angry at that.”

“Not like that”, Helena mumbles, still finding it hard to look at her, “I shouldn’t have… lost control like that. Don’t you worry? That it will happen with you, too? That I might hurt you one day, when we have a fight?”

“No”, Dinah says at once, and finally, Helena does look up at her again, “I know you’d never hurt me. And even if you tried, you’ve seen how hard I can kick, I could take you.”

This brazen statement has the effect she’s been hoping for, as Helena lets out a snort before she can stop herself; Dinah smiles at her, wrapping both arms around her now and pulling her close, glad when she feels her relax in her embrace, and even happier when the hug is returned a moment later.

“Seriously though”, she says, rubbing Helena’s back soothingly, “I mean it. I know you’d never hurt me, and I’m not afraid of you.”

She pulls back from the hug enough so she can look Helena in the eye, then gently kisses her; unlike their previous, heated kisses, this one is slow and tender, a quiet reassurance that she’s there and that she’s not going anywhere, and by the time they pull apart again, Helena looks relieved and even a bit happy again, and Dinah knows that things are going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rage issues... but can't blame her there :-/


	19. Chapter 19

“I know what we will do”, Helena announces a short while later, Sal and Luca are back in the office with Dinah and her and are apparently impressed how calm she already is again, giving Dinah appreciative looks as they both figure she’s had something to do with that, “you took his phone?”

“Yes”, Luca confirms, holding the device up, “and I… convinced him to tell us how to unlock it, too. The code is 1405, his birthday, not very creative.”

He hands the phone to Helena, Dinah moving closer to get a look at the screen as well, curious; Helena quickly unlocks the phone, then opens the messages and scrolls through them, until she’s found the conversation she’s looking for, glad that Giovanni hasn’t deleted it after the last message he’d sent.

She scrolls up to the beginning of the thread, and the rage briefly flares up again when she sees that her driver had made the first step, Dinah sensing it at once and placing a calming hand on her back, glad when Helena relaxes again at once.

_ You Victor Zsasz? _

_ VZ: Depends on who wants to know _

_ I’m the driver of Helena Bertinelli. Hear you got unfinished business with her. _

_ VZ: And you think I’m dumb enough to trust someone who works for her? _

_ I worked for her father. I want her gone, she’s spitting on what he made of this family. _

_ VZ: Prove it. _

_ She’s fucking the chick from the club, the singer. I’ll tell you when she’s home and where she lives, you grab her, and you’ll have Bertinelli served right to the doorstep. _

_ VZ: Deal. _

“Asshole”, Dinah grumbles, while Helena looks as if she wants to throw the phone against the wall, but stopping herself, knowing she still needs it; she takes in a few calming breaths, then reads on, glad that there’s not many messages left.

_ You messed up, she’s not dead. Bulletproof vest. Just arrived here with the chick and some teenager. _

_ VZ: Crap. Thanks for telling me _

_ Will let you know in case I know anything new _

_ VZ: K. Thanks. _

“Good”, Helena mumbles as she looks at the last few messages, then hands the phone to Sal so Luca and he can read them, too, “we can work with that. I know what we’ll do.”

“You want to bait him, don’t you”, Sal sighs, knowing her well enough to immediately guess her ideas, “pretend to be Giovanni, send him something and ambush him there.”

“Yes”, Helena confirms, and Dinah makes a face, but for the moment, she can’t think of anything else, and she knows that just waiting around for Zsasz to make a move they know nothing about isn’t an option, “he’ll be waiting for Giovanni to contact him again, and he won’t question it once he gets another text. Now we just need to decide on a time and place. and who will be there.”

“I’ll come”, Dinah says at once, making them all look at her in surprise, and in Helena’s case a bit of dismay; the taller woman opens her mouth to protest, but Dinah immediately shakes her head, giving her a strict look afterwards. 

“Don’t even try to talk me out of it”, she then says, and Helena snaps her mouth shut again, to the amusement of both Sal and Luca, “you know I’m capable, you’ve seen me fight, and I want to help. He’s almost killed you before, I’m not letting you go there without me.”

“Fine”, Helena sighs, giving in surprisingly quickly, but having to admit that Dinah is making a good point, “seeing you there might throw him off, too, that’ll work in our favour. Okay, so this is what we will do…”

* * *

Once they have come up with a plan that sounds good and safe enough that it will work, Helena makes a brief trip to the basement; Dinah knows what she will do down there, and doesn’t go there with her, but at least she seems to make it quick, joining her in the bedroom just a few minutes after she’d gone down the stairs.

And she’s carrying the crossbow, Dinah notes, raising an eyebrow at it; Helena shrugs, putting it on the dresser opposite of the bed, then opening one of the drawers and pulling out a couple of bolts and cleaning equipment, Dinah watching in quiet fascination how she sits down to clean the weapon, answering her unasked question as she does so.

“I don’t like guns”, she says, something which doesn’t surprise Dinah, “I mean, I use them if I have no other choice, but I prefer this. And I’m better with it than with a gun, too, I’ve started training with it when I was eight.”

“Other kids that age take dance lessons, you know”, Dinah lightly says, “myself, I was in the school choir.”

“I had piano lessons, too”, Helena protests, then realizes Dinah is not fully serious as the singer smirks at her; she shakes her head, trying to look strict, but fails after a moment, a smile curling her lips as she finds herself unable to hold it back.

“We should get you a weapon, too”, she then realizes, and for a second, Dinah is  _ this _ close to telling her that no, she doesn’t, her voice is weapon enough; she bites the words back though, she hasn’t made use of this power in years and she’s not planning to start now, not if it can be avoided.

She feels a bit bad, keeping this from Helena, especially after the taller woman has revealed her secret to her; still she just can’t say the words out loud, and so, she simply makes herself nod, shrugging when Helena asks her if she has any preferences.

“A handgun, maybe?” she then says, not quite sure if that is a good idea, but she figures it’d be easier to handle than perhaps a shotgun or rifle, “I’m not… really experienced with guns as it is, so nothing too big?”

“We can give it a try tomorrow, if you want”, Helena offers, glad that they have a full day before their plan will be set in motion, “we got several guns here, leftovers from my parents, you can see which one you like best.”

“Things I never thought I’ll experience”, Dinah replies, smirking again, “my girlfriend telling me I can pick the gun I like best. Well, there’s a first time for everything, I suppose.”

“One of the perks of dating the daughter of a mafia boss, I guess”, Helena says, smiling as well, “even if the daughter in question isn’t involved in that stuff anymore. So… I’m officially your girlfriend now, then? Cassandra will be happy, since I’m so cool.”

“Dork”, Dinah says affectionately, making Helena snicker slightly, “but yes, you are, I mean, it would be weird to go face a creepy psycho with someone you’re friends with benefits with, no?”

“Good point”, Helena has to admit, earning another smile and a wink from Dinah; she takes a moment to smile back, then focuses on cleaning her crossbow and the bolts again, if only to hide the foolish grin which wants to curl her lips after what they just have discussed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the many perks of dating a former mafia princess, Dinah. XD


	20. Chapter 20

“There we go”, Helena says in the next morning, after breakfast and after Cassandra has been taken to school by Luca, the man having taken over driver duties for now with Giovanni gone, “take your pick.”

She opens the cupboard in the basement room she has taken Dinah to, and presents an impressive collection of guns; for a moment, Dinah can only blink, not quite having expected to be there so many, shaking her head as she steps closer for a better look. 

“You know”, she says as she eyes the weapons, “when you said you got  _ several guns _ here, I didn’t expect enough to supply a small gang.”

Helena just shrugs, then takes a look at the weapons on offer, having to admit that it is quite an impressive number; and after a moment, she picks one of the handguns, taking it off the hook it has been hanging on and offering it to the singer grip first, her finger nowhere near the trigger, as she’s been taught ever since she’s been old enough to actually hold a gun.

“Here”, she says as Dinah takes it, “try this one. It’s a .38, those don’t have that much of a recoil, but still do some damage.”

“Okay”, Dinah says, a bit surprised at the weight of the gun, making sure to have a proper grip on it even though she’s fairly certain it’s not loaded; there’s an actual shooting range in the same room, with a target and protective goggles and ear protection and everything, and Dinah feels a bit surreal, wondering what other surprises this basement might hold.

“What else do you have down here?” she thus asks while Helena picks up a box of ammunition for the weapon she’s chosen for the singer, “a kinky sex dungeon maybe?”

Helena nearly drops the ammunition box, to Dinah’s amusement, and gives her a look so incredulous it makes her laugh; she says “No!”, only to falter at the singer’s response. 

“That’s too bad”, Dinah says innocently, and Helena looks as if she’s about to choke on nothing; taking pity on her, Dinah finally tells her she’s kidding, then raises the gun a bit, making sure to not point it at Helena though.

“Why don’t you show me how to use this”, she suggests, and Helena immediately looks more relaxed again, she might not like guns, but she knows everything about them, and she’s happy to show Dinah what she’ll need to know.

“Okay, so”, she says, taking the gun back, “this is how you load it. The bullets won’t fit in if you’re trying to put them in the wrong way, so no worries there, but hopefully, you won’t have to shoot so much you’ll need to reload it.”

“I better know how to do it anyway, though”, Dinah says, watching closely as Helena demonstrates, even though the nimbleness of her fingers when she loads the gun is quite distracting, “just in case.”

Helena nods and shows her again, then lets her try it; she has her repeat it a few times, until her movements have become more secure, then gestures at the target, asking her if she feels ready for a round or two of actual firing.

“Sure”, Dinah says at once, “but this won’t bring the cops to your doorstep, right?”

“Please”, Helena scoffs, making her smile again, “the whole basement has been soundproofed years ago. Not even the people upstairs are gonna hear anything.”

Dinah smiles at that, then puts on the goggles and ear protection when Helena hands them to her; the taller woman does the same, then moves to stand behind her, placing her hands on her hips to correct her stance.

“Hold it with both hands”, she instructs, Dinah briefly distracted again when she feels her breath on her neck, “not like the cops in the movies with just one, you’re not used to it. Line up the iron sights with the target.”

She reaches past her to adjust her grip on the gun, and her arms are practically around her; this distracts Dinah even further, but Helena seems oblivious to what she is causing, fully focused on the task at hand.

“Good”, she mumbles, and Dinah nearly jumps at how close her lips are suddenly to her ear, “now shoot. Squeeze the trigger, don’t yank it, slowly apply pressure.”

Dinah does, and the shot echoes through the room, loud despite the ear protection; she’s hit the man-shaped target though, right in the chest, and she can tell Helena is impressed when she turns her head to look at her.

“Good shot”, Helena tells her, “want to see if you can do that again or if it was a lucky hit?”

That makes Dinah raise an eyebrow, she’s not completely inexperienced, and so, she turns back to the target and fires three more times, and while one shot does miss, the other two hit, and she figures it’s good enough, three out of four is certainly not bad for someone who hasn’t handled a gun in years.

“Okay”, Helena comments, still so close to her, “not a lucky hit then. Good job.”

“Thank you”, Dinah says, putting the gun on the table next to her and turning around; she takes a moment to pull off her goggles and ear protection, then does the same for what Helena is wearing, placing them on the other table behind herself without looking, then hooks her fingers into the belt loops of the taller woman’s pants, using that hold to pull her close.

“This room is soundproof, you say?” she says innocently, but still notices how Helena swallows heavily before she nods, apparently only now realizing how close they are to each other, “that’s good. Does the door lock?”

“It doesn’t have to”, Helena manages, “nobody enters when they know I’m in here.”

“That’s good, too”, Dinah says, one hand moving to slowly trail up Helena’s back, following the line of her spine, “then we won’t need to hold back.”

She pulls her closer, as close as it’s possible, and kisses her; the kiss quickly deepens, grows more passionate, and apparently, Helena doesn’t care as much for the equipment as Dinah has, as she reaches past her to simply swipe the protective gear off the table and onto the floor, Dinah unable to hold back a squeal when she’s then grabbed and lifted up, until she sits on the table.

Still kissing her, Helena hurriedly unbuttons her pants, then slides them down along with her underwear, far enough so she can get where she desires; and when she goes down on her knees a moment later, Dinah is indeed happy that the room is soundproof and that nobody will come in unannounced, her hands entangling in Helena’s hair as she moans, relieved she doesn’t need to hold anything back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay soundproof rooms XD


	21. Chapter 21

“I’m nervous”, Dinah admits as she gets into the car, she’ll be the one to drive - Helena has told her that she can, but Dinah has pointed out that might make Zsasz suspicious, she doubts he’d confuse her with Helena’s driver, but still a stranger at the steering wheel is less suspicious than Helena herself, and with her hair tied back, her silhouette should look different enough from how she has looked at the club to at least fool him for a bit, “are you nervous too or is it just me?”

“Of course I’m nervous”, Helena tells her, making sure the bolts she has strapped to her thigh are sitting firmly and will neither fall out, nor poke her when she sits down, “if anything goes wrong, you might get hurt or… or worse.”

“Just like you”, Dinah points out, but Helena seems not to care much about that; she just shrugs, then sighs, toying with her crossbow as Dinah starts the engine.

“Let’s hope this will work”, she then says, Dinah nodding in agreement, “and that he hasn’t somehow figured out it’s a trap.”

“I don’t think he’s that smart”, Dinah dismisses those worries, “you did a good job imitating Giovanni’s style when you texted him, and he doesn’t know that Giovanni’s been caught. Nor does he have a reason to suspect.”

Helena sighs, and nods, she’s not quite so sure everything will work out so flawlessly; this is one of the more reckless plans she’s made ever since she’s started hunting down the men who’d helped kill her family, but it has been the best they’d been able to come up with on short notice, and so, now, all she can do is hope it will work out.

“Hey”, Dinah says, sensing how tense the other woman is, “it’s gonna be fine.”

She reaches over and places a calming hand on her thigh, earning a small smile from Helena; smiling back at her, she gives a brief squeeze, then takes in a deep breath as she starts the engine.

In the rearview mirror, she can see Sal and Luca in the other car, they are not following them right away though; knowing it would be suspicious if they drove right behind them, they’ve decided that the two men will wait a few minutes, and while Helena knows that this is smart, it also adds to her nervousness. 

She knows that a lot can happen in a few minutes, a lot can go wrong, it has taken less than five minutes for her family to get gunned down and less than one minute for Zsasz to get to work with his knife.

_ It’s going to be fine _ , she tells herself, while Dinah drives, to the outskirts of Gotham, where they have told Zsasz that Helena’s driver will fake engine troubles and stop the car on an abandoned part of the road,  _ he doesn’t know you’re coming for him, it’s going to be fine. _

“Almost there”, Dinah says, distracting her from those thoughts, “you ready?”

“Yes”, Helena makes herself say, making sure her crossbow is loaded even though she has done so a couple times already; Dinah takes a moment to give her another reassuring look, then forcefully makes the engine stutter before she kills it, fighting the urge to hold her breath as she waits for something to happen.

She’s almost sure Zsasz will open fire on the car, he might think Giovanni is in there with Helena, but she knows he’s not exactly the most loyal to anyone who’s not Sionis, and he’s even left him, when he’s realized Helena is close to getting her hands on him, so she’s fairly certain he wouldn’t mind shooting who he thinks is the man who helped him get her here in the first place.

No hail of bullets comes down onto the car though - instead, an oddly flickering object sails through the air, and hits the engine hood of the car, glass shatters and then flames spread, smoke quickly rising as the car’s paint reacts to the fire.

“Shit”, Helena lets out, not having expected that, of all things, “he’s throwing fucking molotows?! We gotta get out, now, that came from the left, get out on my side, hurry.”

She pushes the passenger door open just as another bottle comes flying and hits Dinah’s side of the car, more fire spreading; hurriedly, she gets out of the car, Dinah following her as fast as she can, pulling the gun from the holster as she does so, but there’s a lot of smoke by now and it’s dark, so she can’t see a thing.

Helena pulls her a few steps away from the car, she doesn’t think it will blow up, but it’s better to be safe than sorry; with her heart racing in her chest, she glances around, only to jump when a shot hits the ground, just a few feet to her left, followed by Zsasz laughing.

“Oh no”, he says tauntingly, “I missed. I better try again!”

He fires again, the shot missing again, but Helena knows he’s doing so on purpose; she still can’t see him, can only vaguely guess where he is, and she doesn’t want to waste crossbow bolts on a vague guess.

Next to her, Dinah glares into the plumes of dark smoke, but she can’t see him, either, not even his silhouette; it’s obvious he can see them though, as he fires again, the shot landing closer to Helena’s feet now, the way he’s toying with them making her blood boil.

“Are you wearing a vest again?” his voice comes again, giving her at least somewhat of an idea where he is, even though she figures he is smart enough to move around and not stand still, “I bet you are. Should I shoot your kneecaps out maybe? I wonder if what would make you scream louder than when I cut out your eye.”

From the corner of her eye, Dinah sees Helena tense up, and immediately steps closer, placing a calming hand on her back; she knows Zsasz wants to goad the taller woman, into doing something rash and reckless, and she figures Helena knows, too, but she can’t blame her for getting angry.

_ Shit _ , she realizes a second later,  _ even if he doesn’t manage to goad her, Sal and Luca are gonna arrive any minute, and if he sees them come, he might just shoot her in the head. You have to do something! _

She knows what she can do, what she has to do, she doesn’t want to, but knows that she doesn’t really have another choice, not if she wants to avoid Helena getting hurt; and so, she takes in a deep breath to steady herself, Helena looking at her in confusion when she speaks up, keeping her voice low though so Zsasz won’t hear.

“Cover your ears”, she says, she has only a vague idea where Zsasz is, but she knows how her power works, and a vague idea is enough; Helena blinks in confusion, and Dinah grabs her hand and squeezes it, a hint of urgency in her voice now.

“You trust me, right”, she says, making Helena nod at once, “good, then cover your ears. I’ll explain later.”

Helena still looks confused, but quickly sheaths her crossbow and does as she has been asked, pressing both hands onto her ears; Dinah takes another deep breath, then turns towards where she suspects Zsasz is, having another moment to hope she’s not making a mistake, that this won’t freak Helena out so much she’ll never want to see her again.

Then, she unleashes her cry, and even though she hasn’t used the power in years, it happens effortlessly, it feels good, it feels  _ right _ , and she knows everything will be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, blast him, Dinah XD  
> Helena: :O


	22. Chapter 22

Not only does her cry blow the smoke away into nothingness and allow them to see Zsasz, it also hits him, and sends him flying, just as Dinah has hoped it would.

From the corner of her eye, she sees Helena’s mouth drop open, the taller woman staring at her wide-eyed; then, Zsasz hits the ground, and Dinah forces herself to stop, it takes a toll and she staggers, but manages to stay upright, shaking her head when Helena moves as if to support her.

“I’m fine, I’m fine”, she says, taking note of how hoarse her voice sounds, and so does Helena because she immediately looks even more worried, “go finish him! Before he recovers!”

Realizing that Dinah is right, Helena nods and pushes her concern aside, for now; as she hurries past the burning car, she still hears Dinah slump down onto her knees, but she doesn’t allow herself to look back, all of this will have been for nothing if she hesitates now and Zsasz manages to get back on his feet.

She readies her crossbow as she walks to where he has landed, but she can quickly tell that there’s not much danger left; the gun has fallen from his hand, for one, and his eyes are oddly unfocused as he stares up into the sky, blood trickling from his ears, showing how much damage Dinah has done.

“Zsasz”, she says as she stops next to him, only to see if he’s actually aware of his surroundings; his hand twitches, and she’s not actually sure if this has been caused by her voice or is some sort of nerve thing, but she doesn’t really care, either.

“You’re the last one, you know”, she tells him, kicking the gun a bit farther away just in case, “once you’re dead, all those who were involved in what has happened to my family are gone. You hurt me, but I’m the last one standing.”

And with that, she aims her crossbow; his hand twitches again, and she’s fairly certain now he’s reacting to her voice, perhaps not to her words, but to the sound of it, and she smiles darkly as he knows it’s her who’s killing him.

She pulls the trigger, and the bolt hits him in the eye and goes right into his brain, he twitches once and lets out a gurgle, then he lies still, a puddle of blood forming and spreading beneath his head.

Behind her, she hears Sal and Luca pull up in their car, followed by their upset shouting when they see the burning car and Dinah kneeling a few feet away from it, but then they see Helena, too, standing over Zsasz’ lifeless body, crossbow in hand, looking down at him. 

Luca goes to check on Dinah while Sal jogs to where Helena is standing; he stops next to her and raises an eyebrow at the sight of the bolt sticking out of Zsasz’ eye, giving an appreciative nod afterwards.

“Good shot”, he then says, “I’ll call someone to get rid of the body. You okay?”

“Fine”, Helena says, making him smile, “even better now that they’re all dead.”

She sheaths the crossbow again and turns to where Luca is just helping Dinah to her feet; the singer looks tired, but is clearly okay, as well, and even though Helena has been quite stunned by what she’s seen her do, she smiles as she walks over to where the two are standing.

“Are you okay?” she still asks, just to be on the safe side, glad when Dinah nods; the singer still looks worried though, and Helena can’t blame her, she never would have expected her to unleash some sort of super power, and she can only imagine what worries must be plaguing her now.

“I’m glad”, she thus says, she wants to reassure Dinah that they are okay, too, but doesn’t want to mention any details in front of Sal and Luca, not sure if Dinah would be comfortable with that; and so, she reaches out and grasps her hand instead, the weak, but happy smile she receives in return showing her that it has been the right thing to do.

They still wait for Sal to make the call, so the ruined car and the body will be taken care of; the people who will do that arrive a short while later, and while they get to work, the four of them get into the car Sal and Luca have used, Helena and Dinah in the backseat, the singer tiredly snuggling up to her, feeling drained after using her power.

Despite how tired she feels, she smiles when she feels Helena pull her closer, one of the taller woman’s hands moving to rub her shoulder and upper arm soothingly; and not even a minute later, she’s drifting off into a light slumber, barely more than dozing, but enough to not her notice most of the drive back to the Bertinelli mansion.

“Hey”, Helena gently says once Sal parks in front of the house, “we’re here. You can get to the bedroom on your own?”

“Mhm”, Dinah lets out, even though she wouldn’t have minded being carried around a bit; she figures though that, while Helena certainly has the strength to do that, it’s not strictly necessary, and it would be a bit unfair to make her do it then anyway.

Clearly, Helena isn’t quite as sure about her ability to stay on her feet as Dinah herself is, as she keeps her arm around the singer’s waist when they walk into the house and upstairs to her bedroom; and once there, Dinah practically flops down onto the bed, letting out a vaguely grateful noise when Helena moves to pull off her shoes. 

“You know”, the taller woman lightly says as she does so, then undoes her pants, “I think this is the first time I undress you without having sex in mind.”

She’s trying to make a joke, but apparently, that has failed miserably, because Dinah raises her head and suddenly looks worried, the same emotion in her voice when she replies, and immediately, Helena feels bad for such an insensitive use of words.

“You’re not freaked out, are you”, Dinah says, the concern in her voice making Helena feel even worse, “about… what I did?”

“No, no”, Helena reassures her at once, shaking her head for emphasis, “I was… surprised? But I’m not freaked out. Actually, it was kinda… awesome.”

“Thank God”, Dinah sighs, slumping back down, “I was kinda worried how you might react… but now you know my secret, too, so it’s fair.”

“Yours is way cooler than mine though”, Helena tells her with a small laugh, going back to the task at hand and pulling off the singer’s pants, Dinah a bit amused at how carefully she folds them before she puts them aside, “I mean, a super power is more impressive than  _ I actually just pretend to be a criminal _ .”

At this, Dinah smiles a bit again, then sits up slightly as Helena starts unbuttoning her shirt; she pulls it off of her, and even though she strictly reminds herself that Dinah is tired and that now is most certainly not the time, she finds herself swallowing heavily as the singer’s upper body is exposed to her sight.

Dinah of course takes note of this, smiling a bit regretful - part of her does want to get intimate as well, but another, bigger part is too tired to do much more than lie around, and so, she mumbles “tomorrow”, her smile widening a bit when Helena immediately nods happily and enthusiastically.

“Go get some rest now”, Helena suggests as she actually tucks her in, making her smile again, “I’ll be right there, just need to take care of a few things first.”

“Okay”, Dinah mumbles, halfway asleep again already; she feels Helena bend over her and press a gentle kiss to her cheek, and as she drifts off into sleep fully, she’s still smiling, glad that they’re still okay even though Helena now knows her secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, all is well :D


	23. Chapter 23

When Helena wakes up in the next morning, Dinah is still fast asleep next to her, and for a moment, she’s worried - she hasn’t taken long the previous evening, just having made sure that the ruined car and Zsasz’ body properly had been taken care of and having paid the men who had done it, and by the time she’s gone to bed as well, Dinah has been sleeping so deeply that she hasn’t even noticed, not stirring now either when Helena sits up.

She wonders if she should call a doctor, should Dinah not wake up soon, not quite sure a regular doctor might actually help with that; and she has to realize that she has no idea how much sleep might be needed and normal after using a power such as the one Dinah has demonstrated, she figures though it must have taken quite the toll on her, after how tired and drained she’s been the previous evening.

_ Give her some more time _ , she decides as she carefully gets up and out of bed, and makes her way to the bathroom; she makes sure to close the door, not wanting the sound of running water from the shower to disturb the sleeping singer, then pauses in front of the mirror, studying her reflection.

For the past few years, whenever she’s caught sight of her ruined eye, she’s felt rage, at Zsasz and at herself, for not having been able to stop him, to stop the others who’d been with him that horrible day; now though, that rage is fading, she knows she’ll never get that eye back, and the scar will remain forever, as well, but it pains her much less, now that she knows that the one who has caused it is dead.

“You did good”, she quietly tells herself, perhaps, she ponders, her family wouldn’t appreciate the fact that she’s getting out of all the illegal stuff, but that is what has killed them, and she doesn’t want to stay on the path which has led to so much pain and bloodshed; she gives herself another critical look in the mirror, then finally steps into the shower, letting her mind wander as she goes through the daily routine.

When she’s done and steps back into the bedroom to get dressed, Dinah is still fast asleep, and Helena worries a bit again; she makes a mental note to check on her in an hour as she gets dressed for the day, putting on her usual combo of button up shirt and suit, she’s not sure she will actually meet anyone face to face that day, but it never hurts to be properly dressed.

The eyepatch is the last thing she puts on, a critical look in the mirror making sure it sits correctly and covers everything up; then, she decides she’s ready for the day and quietly leaves the bedroom, making her way downstairs for breakfast.

Cassandra is already there, and almost done; she greets her with enthusiasm, and asks her if Dinah is okay, Helena making herself nod and hoping she’s not lying to the teenager now, but telling herself that surely, everything will be fine.

“Come on princess”, Luca says while Helena sits at the breakfast table, “time for you to go to school! You wanna be cool like Helena, you have to go to school.”

Helena raises an eyebrow at that, she’s not quite sure why the kid seems to idolize her so much, but she figures it’s better than being hated on, and it seems to work, as Cassandra nods at once and hops from her seat.

She leaves the room with Luca, and Helena helps herself to some coffee and toast; and just when she sits down again to eat, the doorbell rings, and she grumbles, she’s not the nicest person before her first coffee and hasn’t even managed to take a sip of it yet.

“Sal?” she calls out, briefly hoping that maybe, she can get him to open the door; there’s no response though, and she sighs, figuring he’s busy somewhere else, and so, Helena gets up and goes to the door herself, pulling it open a bit harsher than perhaps necessary.

She only feels grumpier when it’s Renee Montoya in front of her door, the cop staring back at her, not impressed by her obvious bad mood.

“What have you done to Dinah”, the cop demands to know, and Helena can only blink, Renee glaring at her lack of response as she crosses her arms over her chest, Helena a bit impressed by how the noticeably smaller woman glares up at her, not letting the height difference intimidate her, “I know you’re behind this! She’s vanished, she hasn’t been at the club, and if you’ve had her killed, I will see you on death row for that, I swear.”

“Excuse me?” Helena finally has the chance to say something, offended, “who the fuck do you think you are? You show up here, at  _ my house _ , and accuse me of having her murdered?”

“Well, am I right?” Renee wants to know, as if Helena simply would have nodded along, if she had been, “did you do anything to her? Where is she, if not? She starts working for you, I tell her not to get close to you, and shortly after that she vanishes, how else would you explain that?”

“She’s upstairs in my bedroom, asleep”, Helena snaps, suddenly too annoyed by this accusation to bother keeping up the facade of ruthless mafiosa any longer, even after having told Dinah that she doesn’t care if Renee digs around in her business or not, “so I guess the not getting close part didn’t work out, but she’s fine.”

“You surely will let me check if you’re telling the truth, right”, Renee brazenly says, and once again, Helena can only blink, needing a moment to get over how rash this has been - before she shakes her head and glares, once again leaving Renee unimpressed though.

“I really don’t see why I should let you wander around in my home”, she coldly says, “so unless you got a warrant I--”

“Helena?” Dinah calls out from the stairs behind her, “babe? What’s going on, everything okay?”

“Dinah!” Renee calls out to her, raising her voice to make sure she’ll be heard, “it’s me, Renee! Are you okay? Is she holding you hostage here?!”

“Renee, really”, Dinah says with a roll of her eyes as she moves to stand next to the taller woman, Helena holding back a smirk at the fact that Dinah is wearing her robe, “would someone held hostage call the one who’s doing it  _ babe _ ? I don’t think so. I’m fine, what are you doing here?”

“She thinks I’ve had you murdered”, Helena tells her, and Dinah actually snorts in amusement, “and now that she’s seen you’re not dead, I imagine that changed into me holding you hostage here. Cause everyone knows that crime lords just let their hostages wander the house, in their robe no less.”

“Well, as you can see, I’m not dead”, Dinah tells the cop, more amused than anything else, this making Helena smile as well, along with the fact that Dinah seems fully fine again, “and I’m not a hostage, either.”

“I told you not to get close to her”, Renee scolds, even though she does look relieved at seeing Dinah alive and well, “what is this then, that’s the exact opposite!”

“Oh my God”, Dinah says, rolling her eyes before she looks at Helena, “can’t you just tell her? Please? I don’t want her sneaking around whenever we go out on a date or something!”

“Tell me what”, Renee wants to know, frowning now; Helena sighs, still quite sure it’s a waste of time as she’s certain Renee won’t believe her, but she figures that Dinah is making a good point, she really doesn’t want the cop to sneak after them whenever they go out, hoping to catch them doing something illegal. 

“Fine”, she thus says, making Dinah smile again, “come in then, I got something to show you.”

“You’ll be pleasantly surprised”, Dinah adds when Renee looks wary, “and I promise you won’t be in danger for a second.”

“...alright”, Renee agrees after another moment, “but just so you know, I’m armed and I won’t hesitate to use that weapon.”

“You won’t have to”, Dinah says, rolling her eyes, “but yeah, okay, we know now. Now come in here.”

Renee still looks doubtful, but does enter the house; she follows Helena and Dinah as the taller woman leads the way to her office, not having an idea what to expect, and completely unaware of what Helena is about to drop onto her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Renee's about to be surprised. :D


	24. Chapter 24

Quite a while later, Renee is finally looking up from the stack of papers Helena has given her, eyes wide and full of disbelief; Helena is sitting at her desk, having gotten some work done while Renee had been looking, and Dinah has kept busy with a book, both of them looking up as well though when the cop does.

“Is this for real?” she asks, even though there’s enough proof right in those papers to answer that question; Helena still nods, and Renee looks at her dumbfounded, clearly not quite able to believe it yet.

“I’ve been trying to build a case against you for months!” she says, annoyed now, “and now you show me this?! Why didn’t you right away?!”

“Well, technically, you have to prove I’m guilty”, Helena points out, “innocent until proven otherwise, remember? I was fairly sure you wouldn’t believe it, and half those papers didn’t exist when you started. I am not fully done yet getting out of the criminal stuff, but I’m working on it.”

“Holy shit”, Renee mumbles, impressed as she looks at the paper again, “okay, this all looks legit enough. Why? No offense, but your father has been building this for most of his life. And I imagine you were raised to continue. So why change it?”

“This is what also cost my father his life”, Helena points out, “and the rest of my family. Believe me, once you spent weeks in the hospital recovering from some psycho slicing your eye out, it changes your view on the family business.”

Her wording has been a bit crass, but it has had the desired effect, as Renee makes a face, then briefly look sympathetic; then, another thought seems to hit her, and her eyes narrow, Dinah suddenly feeling uneasy as she really doesn’t like that look on the cop’s face.

“Let me guess”, Renee says, not taking her eyes off of Helena for a second, the taller woman camly holding her gaze, “those guys who’ve been found dead lately the past few years? They were involved.”

“Maybe”, Helena says evenly, not letting it show if this makes her nervous, as well; she doesn’t say anything else, and after a moment, Renee smirks, the tension leaving her body as she leans back in her seat.

“Too bad those cases are considered cold at this point”, she says, Dinah barely able to hold back a look of surprise, not wanting to give anything away, not yet, “and as for the latest missing persons, Roman Sionis, and Victor Zsasz… Well, I guess the two just ran off together, with the money Sionis made when you bought his club.”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure that is what happened”, Helena says, still in that neutral, even tone; Renee gives her another brief smile, then sighs as she comes to her feet, a bit regretful now, with an apologetic look at both Dinah and Helena as she speaks up again.

“So, I guess I might as well get going”, she says, “since I won’t find anything of interest here. And, uh, sorry for accusing you of murdering Dinah.”

“That’s okay”, Helena tells her, making Dinah smirk at her long-suffering tone, “can’t blame you, I do come from one of the biggest mafia families in Gotham.”

“No hard feelings?” Renee still wants to make sure, looking glad when Helena shakes her head; apparently satisfied with what she has seen and heard, Renee gets up from her seat, and if she’s annoyed that she’s worked on her case for nothing now, she doesn’t let it show, holding out her hand to the taller woman and prompting Helena to come to her feet, as well, so they can properly shake hands.

“Have a good day”, Renee says, somewhat formal now, “and I hope we won’t be in contact again anytime soon.”

“Likewise”, Helena dryly responds, both of them smiling a bit again though when Dinah snorts; Renee takes a moment to tell the singer to take care, then leaves the office and is gone, Helena sitting back down, relieved that this has been resolved fairly quickly and easily.

“Well, that all worked out fine”, Dinah comments, to Helena’s confusion suddenly looking a bit worried again, “so… you want to talk about… what I did? Yesterday?”   


“Not if you don’t want to”, Helena tells her at once, able to tell how uncomfortable this makes her, “I already told you, I’m not freaked out by it, if you want to tell me more, that’s fine, if not, it’s okay too.”

“There’s not much left to tell”, Dinah sighs, but she feels like she should reveal the few bits she hasn’t talked about yet, if only to make it fair, after all, Helena has told her about her own secret, as well, “it’s… genetic, I think? My mom had the same power. She used it to fight crime, you know, until she got into a fight with the wrong people one night and it got her killed.”

“I’m so sorry”, Helena says, a bit shocked to hear that - she has her share of trauma, and figures it’s quite visible, especially when her rage surfaces, but she never would have guessed Dinah shared her fate of dead parent; she feels the sudden urge to comfort her, and so, she gets up from her seat and moves to hug her, the singer immediately returning the embrace.

“I told myself I wouldn’t end up like her”, Dinah mumbles into the taller woman’s shoulder, “so I try not to use it… But it was either that, or maybe have Zsasz shoot you yesterday so…”

“Well, I appreciate that you used it, then”, Helena says solemnly, making her smile a bit again, “I would say we made a good team yesterday, but it was mostly your doing, so you should get the praise.”

“You had the initial idea to bait him though”, Dinah points out, “so we do make a good team. I’m just glad it all worked out and he’s gone now. They all are now, aren’t they?”

“Yes”, Helena confirms, “now I can focus fully on getting out of all the criminal shit. And on spoiling my amazing girlfriend, you do know I will do that, right?”   


“You don’t have to though”, Dinah tells her, making her shrug as she tells her that she wants to; Dinah just smiles, and shakes her head, then pulls her down for a brief kiss, sure that from now on, everything will work out fine for the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Renee's a bit miffed she did all that work for nothing now. XD


	25. Epilogue

That evening, Dinah goes back to the club, with Zsasz and Sionis no longer being a danger to Helena or her; Helena has still been busy with her work when she’s left, but has reassured her she’ll be there for the performance, and Dinah is looking forward to it.

Apparently, a new barkeep has been hired to replace Rudy, a young guy who seems friendly enough when he introduces himself; and as Dinah walks away from the bar to her backstage room after having said Hi, she hears the other barkeep mumble to the new one, his words making her roll her eyes as she smiles a bit.

“That’s our singer”, the barkeep is saying, either not aware she can hear him or not caring, “rumour has it she’s dating the boss, so you better not make a move on her.”

“I’m gay”, the new barkeep deadpans in reply, and Dinah nearly laughs out loud; she shakes her head to herself as she enters the dressing room, only to pause in the doorframe, eyes briefly widening.

There’s a bouquet of roses waiting for her on the small table, big enough to take up most of said table’s surface; it’s not hard to guess who has sent them, but still Dinah looks for a card, finding it quickly and carefully pulling it out.

_ Can’t wait to see you tonight. You’ll be amazing. H _

“Ruthless and cold, right”, she mumbles to herself, smiling as she leans closer to the bouquet to smell them, “more like romantic and sweet.”

She carefully puts the card away, wanting to keep it even once the roses will have withered; then, she starts warming up her voice, forcing herself to focus on that and to not think of Helena showing up in the dressing room after her performance, sitting her on the table like in the basement when they had tried out the gun, and going down on her knees in front of her…

_ Dinah! _ , she scolds herself as she realizes where her thoughts are going, a direction which has nothing to with warming up - at least, not with warming up her voice,  _ focus. No more thoughts about Helena on her knees for you. Oh shit... _

For a moment, she considers going to the restroom to splash cold water into her face, then tells herself to not be ridiculous, and starts over; and this time, she manages to keep her mind on track, not allowing herself to think about anything which might distract her from her task.

This time, she does manage to properly warm up her voice, and she checks her watch, glad to see she has another ten minutes before her performance; for a moment, she considers pulling out her phone and texting Helena to thank her for the flowers, then decides against it, figuring it’ll be nicer to thank her in person. 

So, she goes through her setlist once more, even though she knows it by heart, once more considering to add an Italian song, figuring it wouldn’t be ass-kissing anymore at this time; she does a few more vocal exercises, and then, the time to go on stage rolls around, and even though she knows Helena loves her singing, she feels nervous as she steps onto the stage.

She scans the club before she can stop herself, and spots Helena quickly, standing at the bar, her usual spot; she raises her bottle to her and smiles when their gazes meet, Dinah smiling back at her, not looking away as she starts to sing.

As she does so, she realizes it hasn’t been that long since the last time they had done this, and still they hadn’t been together back then, as odd as this feels in this moment; a lot has happened in just a few days, but Dinah doesn’t regret a second, not even of the bad stuff, as it has led to good things in her life.

Helena keeps watching her during the set, and Dinah holds her gaze for most of it; and after her last song, she bows to the whole room applauding, feeling confident and good when she walks off stage and to the dressing room.

She’s just finished unbuttoning her blouse when there’s a knock at the door, and she smiles, already having a fairly good idea who’s there.

Pulling the door open, she takes a second to make sure it really is Helena, cause it would be embarrassing to open to anyone else with her blouse halfway open; it is the taller woman though, and Dinah immediately pulls her into the room and kisses her, still thinking of kicking the door close even as Helena’s arms wrap around her.

“Risky”, Helena mumbles after the kiss, looking at what the open buttons expose with a raised eyebrow, “opening the door like that. What if it hadn’t been me?”

“Then I would have closed it again”, Dinah lightly says, and Helena lets out a snort of laughter; the singer smiles and winks, then trails her fingers down the other woman’s front, a hint of mischief in her eyes now as she continues.

“You know what”, she says, earning a questioning look, “you weren’t even here when I warmed up and still you distracted me. Cause I kept thinking about what it would be like if we repeated on this table here what we did in your basement.”

“Really now”, Helena says, raising an eyebrow, “well, why don’t we find out?”

Dinah just smiles, and pulls her close again, and she’s really quite happy that her dressing room door has a lock.

* * *

“You know”, Dinah says hours later, as they are back at Helena’s house and are changing into their sleepwear for the night, “now with Zsasz gone, Cassandra and I can go back to our own places, it should be safe again to do so.”

“You could”, Helena says, suddenly looking a bit sheepish, “but… you don’t… have to? Stay. If you want to. I like having you around, and Cassandra too, and you know Luca adores Cassandra.”

“Isn’t that a bit quick”, Dinah teases, “we haven’t even been dating for a month and you want me to move in with you?”

“Yes”, Helena says at once, “I know that’s like one of the top lesbian clichés, but… I like having you around. You and the kid. And you can get your own room if you want, you know this house is big enough to give us space even if we live together.”

“I like being around you too”, Dinah reassures her, then smiles, stepping closer to embrace the taller woman, “and you know what? This might be fast, but fuck that, I want that, too, and not because this is a big fancy house. It feels right, so let’s do it. Cassandra will be thrilled. But what about her foster parents?”

“I’ll deal with them”, Helena says at once, earning another smile from the singer, “it’s not like they took her in out of the goodness of their hearts. I’m sure I’ll find a solution with them.”

“You truly are a good person”, Dinah tells her, amused when Helena blushes a bit in response, and shrugs; she gives her another smile, then pulls her down for a short, but gentle kiss, smirking as she mumbles into her ear afterwards.

“So”, Dinah says, keeping her voice low just in case anyone is near the room, “we gonna get that kinky sex dungeon in the basement then?”

Helena just laughs, and kisses her again, Dinah smiling into the kiss as she returns it; they’re moving fast, she knows, but this feels right, and good, and she’s certain it will all work out fine for the three of them, good things finally coming to their lives after all the pain they all already have been through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... another one done. I got a bunch more *ahem* so I won't stop posting about those two anytime soon. ^^; Thanks for reading, commenting and leaving kudos, I hope you had fun and hope to see you at the next one! :D


End file.
